Hopeful Dreams & Hidden Desires
by ThisIsJulie
Summary: AU-fic: Sometimes love doesn't hit you like a bolt of lightening. Sometimes it takes time to see it, to discover that it's there. Sometimes you have to look for it in the most remarkable places. But when you see it. When you finally find it. It's a love like no other. Suck at summaries, sorry. Slow burn, Callie and Arizona (Calzona) story. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi Guys :)**

 **This is my first published fanfiction ever, and besides writing a Flying Doctors fanfiction for my BFF more than 10 years ago (nerdy, I know), I haven't written anything like this, so please be nice to me. Although I would very much appreciate comments and ideas from y'all, so let me know what you think. Just please use a decent tone with me.**

 **Sara Ramirez's departure/break/whatever-it-is have left me absolutely devastated. I'm sure she has very good reasons to choose to leave, but I will miss her and her acting tremendesly. I have a general concern that this will mean a decrease in the amount of Calzona-fanfiction. This can't happen as I have truly enjoyed all the works that the talented writers on this site have published, so I figured what better time to try and give back than in times of such distress. I sincerely hope that Sara will return to Grey's some day (soon - Callie was my absolute favorite), and Calzona can get their happy ending at last.**

 **This will be a very slow burn for our favorite ladies and there will be mentions of them with other people. Men to be specific. But I promise you that it will be a Calzona-fanfiction and they will find their way to each other eventually.**

 **I have taken some freedom with some of the characters and some of the pairings in this fic. Hope you like it. This fanfiction was just an idea that kind of popped into my head one day, and I couldn't not write it the way I had imagined it.**

 **I have to warn you all. English is not my first language. I apologize for any grammar, spelling or comprehension mistakes and confusions that should occur.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Anyway...here goes nothing:**

CHAPTER 1

Arizona Robbins was nervous. Like really, really nervous. Which was kind of stupid, because this was what she had wished and worked for in the past five years. She was very aware of the fact that a lot of women would kill for the opportunity, she had gotten. Hell she even had a few friends that were probably conspiring how to kill her right this second.

She smiled to herself as she thought of how her closest friends had reacted, when she told them. While they were all very happy for her, it was also clear as day, that some of them had been more than a little jealous. She hadn't been allowed to tell that many yet, but she was sure, that after this week, her phone would be lighting up, like it was on fire.

The nervous butterflies in her stomach were getting bigger and bigger with every minute that passed, and as she reached the parking lot and stepped out of her car, they were basking away full swing in the pit of her stomach. Glancing down at her outfit again, she smoothed out the invisible crinkles in her blue shorts and shirt set. She looked good. After locking her car, she made her way toward the huge gated area.

She approached the security at the front gate and showed her ID along with a dimpled smile. The security guy looked her up and down before letting her pass without giving her as much as a smile. But that didn't matter to the blonde. Nothing could bring her down. Well except for the butterflies maybe. Arizona took in her surroundings and couldn't help but smile. This was it. This was her dream come true.

* * *

Callie Torres strolled through the familiar hallways. This had been like a second home to her for the last four years. These halls had seen her in her best and, recently, her worst, and she couldn't imagine ever leaving. Sure her career had taken of in the last two years. Offers were being given, and once in a while, when time allowed it, she let herself accept one, but leaving permanently was never an option.

As she rounded the corner and the conference room came into view, she caught a glimpse of one of her colleagues about to enter the room.

Hurrying to catch up with him, she called out "Hey Owen, wait up!"

Owen Hunt turned around and smiled at the Latina. "Callie, hi. How was your summer?"

Callie gave Owen a small smile and replied "It was good. Spent a lot of time by myself trying to adjust to it all you know. Yours?"

The ginger haired man looked away for a second and smiled big. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the brunette next to him. "It was amazing. I had really been looking forward to it, and it was everything, I had hoped it would be and more. But I'm sure, you already know that" he said as he smiled at Callie. "Thank you, by the way, I don't think I ever got to say that properly. We really appreciated the gesture." At those words Callie looked to the floor and sighed.

Owen reached for the Latina and pulled her into a hug that she instantly reciprocated. "I know it's hard, Cal. But everything will be okay. For what it's worth, I think he is an idiot for letting you go. But don't tell him I said that, I still have to work with him, you know, and we all know how he gets when people express, that they think he's made a wrong decision" he chuckled.

Callie couldn't help but chuckle as well before removing herself from the hug and looking at Owen with blank eyes. "Thank you, Hunt". She composed herself and reached for the doorknob. "Anyways, let's go see, what kind of trouble the rest of the crowd have been up to during summer".

* * *

At the main lobby, Arizona approached the reception. The butterflies were still in full swing, and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she addressed the receptionist. "Hi, I'm Arizona Robbins. I'm here to see Addison Montgomery".

One of the receptionists looked at Arizona with sparkling green eyes and gave her a big, genuine smile. "Ah, Miss Robbins, welcome. We've been looking forward to you joining us. Let me just call Addison, and then I'll give you your ID-card, keys and whatnot afterwards."

Arizona looked on, as the receptionist picked up the phone and dialed speed-dial one. 'Guess that comes with being the boss', Arizona thought to herself. With the receptionist busy on the phone, Arizona took the time to really take in the lobby.

It was huge, and beautifully done with white walls decorated with black and white posters, white ceilings with big chandelier-like lamps hanging from them, a receptionist desk build up in grey stones, that looked like they had just been picked up from the woods, fluffy grey couches with a table, that matched the receptionist desk, chairs and tables that complemented the couch area and big windows taking up a whole one side of the room. Scattered around the tables and on the floor were orchids in different sizes and shades of pink. It was breathtaking and Arizona couldn't believe her luck.

"Ms. Robbins, Addison asked me to show you to her office." Arizona was brought back to reality by the receptionist voice. The young woman got out of her chair, opened a drawer and pulled out some papers and a keychain with a set of keys and an ID-badge.

"These are yours. You will be introduced to everything later on. I'm Nicole Peterson by the way, and I am in charge of the reception Mondays through Thursdays. Friday through Sunday, my colleague Mari-Anne Summer will be in charge. If you have any questions regarding the logistics of this place, please don't hesitate to ask any of us". The woman smiled at Arizona as she led them to the elevators.

"Thank you that is very kind of you" Arizona responded with a grin looking on as the receptionist pressed the button for the 10th floor. The butterflies already seemed to rest a bit.

* * *

As Callie opened the door to the conference room a whirlwind of talking and laughter hit her and Owen. A dozen people filled up the room and the atmosphere was light and welcoming. Callie sucked in a breath and closed her eyes as a familiar voice hit her ears from somewhere in the room. She reopened them instantly however, when she was engulfed in a big tight hug.

"Callie, how are you girl?" Meredith Grey asked as she released the Latina from her loving embrace.

Callie smiled back at the petite woman and answered with a smirk "Good. Glad to be back in this place, ready to show you all how it's done!"

Meredith laughed and put a hand on the brunettes arm. "Pretty sure, you already did that. Don't think I haven't heard the rumors, Cal. You are going to win it" she finished with a wink.

Callie gave Meredith a big heartfelt smile in return, but twirled around when she felt the presence of another person approaching her from behind. And there he was. She spent her entire summer fearing how this was going to go, and as she took in his appearance, her smile faltered and tears automatically sprung to her eyes. It was obvious that he had lost a bit of weight, and he had bags under his eyes, that undoubtedly matched hers. But he was still handsome. He was still Mark.

"Hi", she stated tentively and with a bit of a crack in her voice.

Mark Sloan sent a small smile her way and took a step towards her into her personal space, as he reached for her left hand. He slowly traced his finger along her finger, where a wedding ring had rested just months prior.

"Hi yourself" he breathed out as he looked up at her and continued "How have you been?"

Callie looked as his blue sorrow filled eyes lined with tears that threatened to spill any second. "How the hell do you think I've been?!" The reply left Callie's mouth before she knew it, and she instantly closed her eyes in regret, as one single tear made its way down Marks gruff cheeks at her harsh words.

When she opened them again, Mark was still looking at her, albeit this time, his eyes weren't only filled with sorrow but also hurt. "It wasn't working anymore, Cal, and you know it as well as I do. It was the hardest decision of my life, and I mi…"

"Don't" Callie cut him of "Just don't. Not here, not now." She pleaded with him. At that Mark nodded his head once. She cleared her throat and removed her hand from his hold. "We should probably take our seats. Addison is going to be here any minute" the Latina said and passed her soon to be ex-husband to take her seat at the table.

* * *

Arizona reached a shaking hand up and knocked at the door. Nicole had left her outside the office of the one and only Addison Montgomery, and Arizona had taken a moment before building up the courage to knock at the door. A faint "come in" was heard, and Arizona turned the knob. The office was big and very homey with a fake fireplace and couches taking up one side of the room, while a big desk took up the other. Behind the desk the blue-grey eyes of Addison Montgomery peeked up at the intruder.

"Arizona welcome back. It's so good to see you again" Addison stated as she rose from her chair and walked towards the blonde and held out her hand for Arizona to take. Arizona reached out and gave the impeccable dressed woman a firm handshake.

"Thank you Ms. Montgomery. It's good to see you too". Arizona couldn't help but smile really big at the redhead in front of her.

"Oh please, it's Addison. We're not that formal here" Addison waved her hands at her new employee, while going back to her desk to collect some papers. "Let's go downstairs. The rest of the lot is waiting, and I can guarantee, that they are all very intrigued about what is going on. You have been my private secret for the summer and they are all about to explode from being left out in the dark" Addison laughed as she ushered Arizona out of her office and towards the waiting elevator.

As they stepped in the elevator, Addison pressed for the 2nd floor, and as the door closed, she turned to Arizona "How are you holding up? I guess this must be a little overwhelming. Not to mention the fact, that you haven't really been apple to gossip and squeal with anyone about it. You did tell someone, right? To be able to share something like this is a pretty big deal" she smiled towards the blonde.

Arizona smiled back and let one of her own hands rest on her chest just above her heart before replying "Oh my God, you have no idea. I have been a nervous wreck since you called me and told me, the job was mine. Well first I did a very wild, very long happy dance in my living room, and then I called a friend to gossip and squeal, as you so delicate put it", Arizona chuckled as Addison's smile grew at the blondes admission "but more importantly I am SO happy and grateful to have gotten this chance, and I can't wait to see, what you got planned for me" the blonde genuine smiled at the woman next to her as the elevator dinged signaling, that they had arrived at their designated floor.

* * *

Callie sat at her usual spot around the table. Addison's chair was still vacant, but apart from that, almost every other chair had slowly been filled by her friends and colleagues. Except the one next to her. She looked at the chair at her left side that was also vacant. The chair would normally be occupied by Callie's longtime friend, Erica Hahn, but she had gotten a better offer, and had left for the summer like the rest of them, only difference was, that she wasn't returning by the end of the break. Callie wondered for a second, why the chair was still there. Why not just remove it.

Callie was pulled out of her musings, as April Kepner's voice reached her from the other side of the empty chair. "It's so weird, that she's not here. I mean, she's the first one to leave in the time that I've been here. And even though I didn't talk to her that much, when we weren't in here, she was a part of this, you know?" April stated as she looked over at Callie.

Callie smiled and replied "Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm really going to miss her, and she will be hard to do without. But I'm sure Addison's got a plan. She always does." The Latina stated with certainty.

At that, the doors to the conference room opened, and Addison strode in with a blonde woman in thow. Addison stood in the gap in the middle of the room and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome back from summer break people. I hope you all enjoyed your welcomed time off. Now it is back to work, and you know I expect nothing but the very best from all of you" the redhead said with a smile to the people gathered around her. She then turned her attention back to the blonde, put a hand on her shoulder and continued "This is Arizona Robbins, and she will be joining us to fill in the void after Erica's departure. It will be big shoes to fill, but I am more than confident, that Arizona will be up for the task. I picked her myself, and she is very good. I will continue to wonder, why no one snitched her up until now. But that was just my luck I guess."

Arizona felt her cheeks heat up at the redhead's words. And then the butterflies were back. Like really back, and for a second Arizona feared, that she might have to throw up right here in front of her new colleagues. She averted her eyes to the floor to compose herself.

Callie watched as Arizona blushed, then lost all color in her face before she looked to the floor. It made Callie smile. She liked, when people came in to this humble. Although she didn't like the look of overwhelming nervousness on the newcomers face. The brunette caught the blue eyes of the woman as she looked up again, and sent her an encouraging smile.

Arizona made eye contact with Callie Torres. THE Callie Torres. The smile on the other woman's face however helped ease the blonde's nerves to a bearable level, and she gave a small, grateful smile back.

"Arizona, you will have Erica's old spot at the table. It's right over there between Callie and April. I'm sure, they will be very welcoming to you", Addison said and sent Callie and April a pointed glare. Callie smirked at her boss and friend and sent Addison a smile that said "Chill, I won't kill her".

At this Arizona made her way over to the vacant chair next to the Latina. As she approached, Callie pulled out the chair for her, and gestured for Arizona to sit down. "Don't worry, I won't bite – well unless I'm told to, you know how it is" Callie said and smiled big at the blonde as she sank down in the chair.

The blonde gave Callie an uneasy smile, and Callie thought she caught something similar to awe in the blonde's eyes as she looked at her.

'Oh my God, oh my God, OH MY GOD' Arizona thought to herself, as she sat next to the one and only Callie Torres. Naturally she knew and had heard a lot about this woman, albeit recently it had been more in regards to the woman's personal life, than anything else, but Arizona knew, she was a force to be reckoned with. The woman was unbelievable, and Arizona was stoked to sit next to her, and kind of baffled, when the woman started talking to her. Callie Torres was without a doubt the most talented person in this room.

Arizona gave a nervous smile to the woman and replied "Well, that goes both ways". That was all she managed to get out before a ginger haired woman on the other side of Arizona addressed her.

"Hi, I'm April Kepner. It's very nice to have you here with us. I think we are going to be great friends. And don't worry about the big shoes. They weren't that big, and I'm sure, that you will fit right into them" the woman warmly smiled at Arizona, and it put the blonde's nerves even more at ease.

Before she knew it a nameplate was put in front of her at the table, and Arizona couldn't remember a time, she had smiled bigger than in that moment. It was awesome, and she once again thanked her lucky stars and Addison Montgomery for being there.

Then a thick stack of papers were dumped on the table in front of her, and the smile got impossibly bigger. Arizona smoothed her hand over the papers and the words on the front that read: 'HEART AND HOSPITAL, season 5, episode 01' and then right below 'Arizona Robbins as Dr. Jessica Carter'. Tears of happiness welled in the blondes eyes. 'I can do this. This is my well-deserved pay off to all those auditions in the past five years' the blonde thought to herself, as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to meet the gaze and smile of the Latina woman next to her, before once again reading the words on the front and then scrolling to the first page of the script.

 **So...what do you think? :) Is it worth continuing?**

 **Can't wait to hear from you.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	2. Chapter 2

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again Guys :)**

 **First of all thank you for all of your nice reviews, I really appreciate it. Because of all of your kind and encouraging words, I decided to continue the story and upload this next chapter. The updates will not continue to come this frequently though, because I'm sure life and other fun things won't allow me to do that. I do promise you though that I will update the story as often as I can.**

 **AN1: To the reviewers who warned me about using the name of real actresses. I know that is a problem but my lazy ass just didn't have the energy to come up with another on-screen name for Arizona on Heart and Hospital until I knew if I was continuing this ;) If I decided to continue the story the name had to somewhat go with the names of the other characters, and I still wasn't set on those and the future story line regarding Heart and Hospital, when I posted the first chapter. But not to worry, I have now changed Arizona's on-screen name in the first chapter. Most of the other characters' on-screen names will be mentioned in this chapter and hopefully it will all make more sense to you later on in the story. Thank you for the heads up though.**

 **AN2: I have never ever been to the kind of film set most of this fanfictions takes place at, which means that everything that is happening on set in this fic is just a product of my mind and imagination.**

 **AN3: This chapter is in some parts sort of a filler chapter. Short introductions and personal information of some of the other characters are being given, and that just takes up a lot of space, which in turn means that this chapter is kind of long.  
** **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Anyway, let's get to it…Happy reading :)**

CHAPTER 2

Callie had watched as the blonde next to her struggled to keep her tears at bay as the first script of the season was placed in front of her. Having been a part of the show from the start, Callie had almost forgotten how big of a deal it was to be there for another season.

As the table read progressed the blonde read her lines with an enthusiasm and a fire that made the Latina smile. More than once she caught the eyes of her new side companion and was rewarded with a look of absolute happiness from the fairer woman every time.

This was the very first table read that Arizona had ever attended, and she LOVED it. She loved how all members of the cast got shocked at the development of the characters and laughed and cried with each other during the reading. She sucked everything in, wanting to remember this for the rest of her life. Last season had ended on a high note, so the season premier was bound to be filled with drama. And the script didn't disappoint.

When the table read came to an end, and the cast and crew were dismissed by Addison, Callie grabbed Arizona's arm as she was about to turn around and leave.

"Hey, do you have somewhere to be now? I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to grab a coffee or something. I could fill you in about everything going on in this place" Callie smiled and saw quite a few different emotions that she couldn't place twirl around in the blue orbs of her new and enthusiastic co-star.

Callie's request caught Arizona by total surprise, and she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times in disbelief before finding the words to answer the brunette. "I would really like that. I don't have to be anywhere for the next two hours." Arizona smiled back.

As the duo made their way to the door Mark Sloan came up to them. He looked at Arizona and stuck his hand out to meet hers. "Welcome to the cast Arizona. I'm looking forward to working with you. Looks like we might be getting a fair amount of scenes together" the man said as he threw a wink at her. Arizona took the tall, broad man in. He was very good looking. Arizona was taken by surprise as to how good looking he really was. One thing was to see him on TV, where the man was undoubtedly handsome, but in real life he was out of this world gorgeous.

The first script had hinted that there could be a romance blossoming between her character, Dr. Carter and his character, Dr. Daess. The thought made Arizona's heart flutter for just a second before she responded to the man with a sincere smile "Likewise Mark. Although I have to say that I don't hope my character puts up with the kind of crap, your manwhorish character is known for".

Mark let out a loud laugh, and Callie chuckled beside her. This made the man turn his attention toward the Latina, and with that his facial expression softened and his eyes took on a look of utter broken love. Arizona didn't know whether to stay put or run for the door as Mark started to address Callie.

"Cal, can we talk? I know you said not here, but I would really like to talk to you. You ignored my calls all summer, and… We could go to my trailer. Or yours, whichever you prefer. I just…I…I miss you…in my life…and…and I would really like for us to talk." He finished and looked at Callie with weary eyes.

Callie sucked in a breath at the sincerity in Mark's words and sent him a small smile "I know Mark, but I was actually going to get coffee with Arizona. I promise we'll talk, just not…not right now, okay? I'm fine, and I need to show Arizona around and…"

"You don't have to do that" Arizona interrupted the brunette midsentence. "I can go by myself and talk to some of the others. I need to find my trailer anyway, and you and I can get our coffees some other time. Really, it's okay" Arizona said as she put a hand on Callie's shoulder for comfort. She could see the distress and pain in the brunettes every feature, and wanted her to know that choosing to talk to Mark was absolutely okay.

Callie sighed as she looked at Arizona. She gave her a small smile, mouthed a thank you and turned her attention back to Mark. "Let's go" she said before taking off out the door. Marks sent the blonde a silent thank you as he followed the Latina.

Arizona ran her hands through her hair and let out a puff of air. She had read all kinds of rumors about the relationship, marriage and recently separation between the two stars of the show, but at the sight of such heartbreak on both of their faces, she vowed to never read gossip magazines for her entertainment ever again.

When Arizona left the room a tall honey blonde woman made her way towards her and started speaking "Got caught up between the feuding lovers, did you?" she reached her hand out towards Arizona's as she started introducing herself "I'm Teddy Altman. Welcome to the set. You look like the puff of fresh air we all need." Arizona smiled at the other woman's kind words "Thank you. And I know who you are. Heck I know who all of you are. Being here is so overwhelming, and I have to admit I'm slightly star struck." Arizona chuckled before continuing "And yeah, that was pretty intense in there" she pointed with a finger towards the conference room "I didn't know what to do. What happened between them? They always looked so in love everywhere they went, and then all of the sudden all the headlines were about their apparent separation." Arizona questioned as her and Teddy made their way down the hall towards the elevators.

"I don't know. I don't think anyone except the two of them really knows" Teddy replied with a sad smile "It was like they just drifted apart. When they first came here, they were so in love. Like couldn't-keep-their-hands-of-each-other in love. I think it really went south when Callie's career started taking off. Everyone wanted a piece of her, and I don't think Mark always found, that he got the chunk of her, that he deserved. They seemingly took off in different directions and didn't really find their way back to each other" Teddy concluded.

Arizona just nodded her head at that statement thinking about what was happening between her new colleagues in a trailer right now. She couldn't help but wonder if Callie was okay. She had sent nice and welcoming vibes to Arizona, and she just wanted to make sure that the Latina was okay. She shook her head, and decided that there was nothing she could do right now. "Do you have time to go and grab a coffee?" she asked the fellow blonde next to her.

* * *

Callie made her way across the open space to her trailer with heavy steps. She could hear Mark just behind her, and his presence both soothed and infuriated her. "Get in" she demanded as she opened the door to her trailer.

Without a word Mark made his way up the stairs and in the trailer. He had been there countless times before, and he couldn't help but smile as the unique scent of Callie invaded his senses. The smile was soon replaced by a frown as he realized that the trailer was stripped bare of pictures of the two of them.

"You took down all of our photos" he stated a bit accusatory as he turned around to face the Latina.

"What did you expect me to do, Mark" Callie answered calmly.

"Well I didn't expect you to erase me from your life, Cal. We've known each other forever" Mark stated obviously hurt by the brunettes action.

"Calm down, would you. It's not like I've cut your head out of all the photos and burned them while I cursed you or something! I just took them down. They're in my drawer." Callie let out a shaky breath, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking back at Mark. "You wanted this, not me, remember. And you were just everywhere Mark. How the hell am I supposed to move on, if you are everywhere, huh?" Callie questioned as a couple of tears made their way down her cheeks. As far as she was concerned, she stood before the love of her life. A love that didn't want her anymore.

Marks expression softened as he made his way to the distraught Latina. "I'm sorry Cal. I'm so sorry" he said with a crack to his voice as he engulfed the brunette in his arms.

Callie relaxed as she felt Mark's strong arms around her and breathed him in as she felt a kiss being placed on top of her head. As they eased out of the hug one of Marks hands found their way to her chin, and tilted it upwards for him to look into her eyes. At the familiar look of adoration, love and heartbreak in the glazed over chocolate brown eyes tears sprung to his own eyes.

"I love you Callie. I will always love you, and you will always mean the world to me. But this past year was just…I don't know…different. We used to have this all figured out. With the show and our careers and us and, and all of the sudden you are just…"

"Successful" Callie cut Mark of as she removed herself from him. Anger built up inside her and her voice grew in level. "People gave me a chance, found out I was good AND YOU COULDN'T HANDLE IT" the brunette yelled at the man in front of her. She braced herself and looked into the blue eyes of the man she loved with every fiber in her body.

"I thought you would be happy for me. I thought that all those nights when we lay curled up in bed, and talked about the joy it would be when one day one of us would be this big ass star, meant something. It did to me, Mark. Had it been the other way around, I would have been HAPPY for you. But now here we are, and you left me because I get all these offers and you don't, and I feel like I don't even know you. Because the man I fell in love with almost ten years ago would have loved that I get to live out my dream. And yet somehow you succeeded in turning this dream into a nightmare." Callie felt the tears flowing freely down her face as all her pent up frustration came out, and she lowered her head.

Mark looked at the heartbroken woman in front of him and sighed. "That's not fair Cal and you know it. I was with you every step of the way more than two years ago, when you landed your first big movie deal. I went out of my way to show you exactly how proud I was and how happy it made me that you finally got the chance you deserved, remember. I am still so happy and immeasurably proud of you. And I really hope that all of those rumors are true because you deserve everything in the world. It's not about you being successful. Can you honestly say that you didn't feel the shift in our relationship?" Mark lowered his head to catch the eyes of the Latina.

He saw Callie close her eyes briefly before looking up at him again. "You are amazing Callie. And you deserve better. I deserve better." Mark reached out and palmed the brunette's cheek. "I love you, you are by far my best friend, and I really hope, that you want to share every single one of your victories as a 'big ass star' with me." Mark felt relieved as a small smile tugged at the corners of the brunette's mouth. "But we don't work together as lovers anymore. And believe me when I say that I am as heartbroken about that as you are. But I'm certain, that there is more love out there for the both of us. And I'm confident that it is right around the corner. You deserve to be happy, Callie. Truly happy." Mark caressed her cheek until Callie reached up and swung her arms around his neck. She then leaned in and placed the softest of kisses on his lips.

Callie knew he was right. She'd felt it too. But that didn't make it any less painful. She just couldn't get used to a world where she didn't wake up next to him every day. It broke her heart even more as she looked up at him and saw the emotions running through his eyes. "I love you too. But I'm going to have to learn not to. Not like this. For almost a decade, you were the very best thing of every single day for me. And even though we can still be friends, it will never be the same. We both know that. But I'll really like to try though." The brunette smiled and threw her arms around Mark's waist hugging him tightly.

* * *

Arizona sat at a table with her new acquaintance Teddy Altman and a steaming latté. Teddy was in the process of telling Arizona about her fellow cast members. Personal life and all.

"So there's Meredith Grey, who plays Dr. Ellen Porter. She is the leading lady, and everyone adores her. She is really nice. Though she does have her dark moments sometimes. Mainly when she is with Cristina Yang, who plays Dr. Orch. Those two together can send you frowning faces like it is nobody's business and rid Mexico of their entire tequila supply in just one night. They can hold their liquor let me tell you that."

Teddy laughed at her own comment and Arizona send a dazzling smile in return. She already liked Teddy and couldn't wait to spend more time with her. Something about her personality just drew Arizona in. She seemed so carefree and accepting to anyone.

"Anyway, as you probably know, Meredith is dating Derek Shepherd, who plays Dr. Patrick Dewer. They met at auditions and fell in love instantly. Very romantic. All of us kind of expect him to ask her to marry him any minute now. Derek's sister Amelia is also part of the show. She plays Dr. Caterina Spirs. Amelia is dating Owen Hunt, the guy with the carrot colored hair that plays Dr. Mader. They have been dating on and off for a year and went on a very romantic getaway this summer to the Maldives and The Galapagos. Then we have the very enthusiastic April Kepner, playing Dr. Sarah Dellyn, whom you already met. She is very nice – but you kind of only want her in small doses. Her positivity will kill you in the long run, trust me."

This time Arizona was the one laughing at Teddy's comment. She could see what Teddy meant, but she couldn't help but think that the positivity of the young red head was what would make her survive. She thought that April and her had more in common, than met the eye and was positive that they would get along really great.

"April has a thing for Jackson Avery, or Dr. Jesse Walight as our viewers know him. Everybody knows it, but none of them seem to be able to find the courage to do something about it. You would think he would be braver right. I mean being the kid of one of the best stunt women to have ever walked this planet. "

Teddy smirked at the blonde at that, but Arizona just shrugged her shoulders in return. "Love can be difficult. Just because everyone else sees it doesn't mean he does. Love doesn't always just hit you, you know. Sometimes you have to make a conscious decision to look for it and see it. You have to be open to it."

Teddy just blinks her eyes at Arizona a couple of times. "Wow that was deep new girl. I didn't know you had it in you." She playfully slaps the blonde's shoulder before continuing. "Then we have the newest couple on set. Alex Karev and Jo Wilson. Karev plays Callie's on-screen romance Dr. Justin Criving and Jo plays and intern, Dr. Loker. Then there's Nathan Riggs, playing Dr. Martin Heral and Andrew Deluca playing intern Dr. Giacomo Gaccianit. They joined the cast last year – both single and both very openly checking you out today by the way. And of course you know about Callie and Mark. They came on to this set as a couple. Had been together for nearly six years, when they were cast together to do this. She had just gotten off Broadway, won a Tony and everything. He had had some minor parts in different shows and movies before this. But from the second they strode on to the set hand in hand we all knew that they were the ones to watch. They are both beyond good at what they do…"

Arizona listened to Teddy ranting on about Callie and Mark, but her mind shifted to the couple and the heartbroken look on both of their faces. She couldn't stop herself from hoping that they worked it out. They seemed like such an amazing couple, and they definitely deserved to be happy.

"What about you, Arizona. What brought you here? And what about family? Got a husband and five kids at home?" Teddy played with a smirk.

Arizona shook her head and knew she had to have missed some of Teddy's rambling, because she knew for sure that she had to have missed out on a few introductions of some cast members. She laughed slightly at Teddy's question "No, I don't have a husband and five kids at home. And I'm here by chance actually. I was just strolling down the streets of New York rehearsing lines for my next audition a couple of months ago, when Addison stopped me on the street and asked me to come to an audition for this show. It was unreal. It was even more unreal when I got the job. I lived in NY at the time and had to move here. My boyfriend didn't feel like doing the same, so we went our separate ways, and here I am" the blonde ended with a bright smile towards Teddy.

"Wow, no attempt at a long distance relationship? You are ruthless my friend" Teddy commented.

"Well, it was a mutual decision. It would have been too hard in the long run. Someone would have to give eventually, and none of us felt like it. I'm in LA now, and I have no plans of going back" Arizona added and took a sip of her latté. "What about you Altman? Got a husband and five kids at home?" the blonde threw back with a wink.

The honey blonde woman across from her threw her head back in laughter that was soon replaced with a glazed over look in her eyes as a smile ghosted her face before she whispered barely loud enough for Arizona to hear "No, I got something much better."

Before Arizona even had the chance to respond to this, Addison Montgomery came in to view. "Oh hi, I see that you made friends already Arizona. That's good. We are a family here, and I really want my people to get along." She smiled at Arizona before turning her attention to Teddy. Arizona looked on intensely, as Addison reached out and put a lock of the other woman's hair behind her ear before ghosting a cheek with her knuckles. A big and bright smile took over Teddy's face as she sighed in content.

"Have you been taking good care of her? Put her up to speed with all the gossip?" Addison teased as she leaned down and gave Teddy a peck on her lips.

"You know it gorgeous". Teddy replied with a wink.

"Good." The red head gave Teddy one more peck on the lips before she stood up straight. "I'm going to go check on Cal and Mark. I'll be right back, and then we can go, okay?"

"Can't wait" Teddy called out as she followed the retreating woman with her eyes.

"So not a husband and five kids, but one very sexy woman to tuck you in at night, huh" Arizona questioned with a wink and a smirk.

Teddy laughed at the blonde's antics "Yeah, she's amazing. She's changed my life. I had never in my wildest dreams imagined being with a woman but she just came in to my life and changed everything. I can't even explain it" Teddy said with a huge smile on her face. As Arizona studied the other woman she couldn't help but wonder if her own face would ever adorn that look of love.

 **And that's it on chapter 2.**

 **I know the namedropping of the characters and their on-screen names were more than a little confusing, but for now the important thing is the characters and not their on-screen names. They will be mentioned again when it's important in the story.**

 **Can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	3. Chapter 3

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi Guys :)**

 **Chapter 3 is here! I finished my story chart for this fic, and knowing where this is headed makes it all just flow kind of easy and I feel very inspired despite knowing that Sara left Grey's. Also I've had some days off which have allowed me to really just get in to the story and write whenever I felt like it. This means that the next few chapters after this one is practically finished, and I figured that since this is the case I might as well upload chapter 3 now. The next days (maybe the next week) will be busy though, so prepare yourselves and be patient – you may have to wait a while before I find the time to upload chapter 4! I'll try not to take too long though, promise.**

 **Thank you again for your reviews and interest in this story, it makes me very happy and serves as a great inspiration. My story chart for 'Hopeful Dreams & Hidden Desires' has a few places where it would allow me to end the story, so keep the love coming for a chance of as much of this universe as possible. As long as you lovely people keep encouraging me and I have inspiration and drive I will keep writing (don't worry the first possible end is obviously still many chapters away, so stick with me and you will be in for a multichapter adventure).**

 **Guest S:** **First of all I'm very glad, that you like my story. The issue of Arizona's sexuality has sort of already been revealed. She mentioned to Teddy in the last chapter that she left a boyfriend back in NY when she moved to LA. Obviously Arizona is going to end up with Callie as they are MFEO, but she's not a Goldstar lesbian in this fanfiction. Sorry to disappoint you and I really hope that you'll continue to give the story and me a chance anyway :)**

 **Calzonafan123:** **You're absolutely right (and observant) but as you might recall Callie cut him off – maybe he lost his nerve to say what he intentionally came there to say?! *hint hint* ;) But yes their conversation did indeed also serve as a way to get to know the characters and their relationships/story a little better.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy!**

CHAPTER 3

Callie was exhausted. Her and Mark had opted to just lie together on the bed in her trailer for a while after their heartfelt conversation. The depth of it all had caught up to the both of them, and they had been crying freely in each other's arms. The whole time Mark hugged Callie close to his body and kept telling her over and over that he was sorry. Callie couldn't help but feel that something was unsettled between the two and that Mark didn't tell her everything. Before Callie had the chance and energy to ask him about it though they had been interrupted by Addison who had come to check up on them.

After a conversation with their boss in which both her and Mark once again promised to not let this whole conjugal mess affect their work, Callie was now on her way to the make-up trailer. She looked horrible. Her eyes were swollen and her face was all red and blotchy. There was no way she could leave the area looking like this. Every paparazzo in North America was already tuned in on her, and if she left looking like this the rumors and interest would only intensify, making everything worse and even harder.

As she made it to the make-up trailer, she was met with sweet giggling. She paused and looked in the small space. Arizona was sitting in one of the chairs in deep conversation with Petra, one of the make-up artists of the show.

"…and then he just left his pants there and made a run for it. I was already ahead of him because I am like ridiculously fast, and I had all my clothes. He was pissed. Not only was he naked from the waist down, but he also lost 100 dollars he had in the pocket of his abandoned jeans. But I mean why did he even take of his pants entirely? Why didn't he just pull them down? That I'll never understand. But I guess that'll teach him to never attempt to have sex with his super-hot girlfriend in other people's gardens." Arizona finished with a small blush and a laugh.

As she finished laughing Arizona caught sight of the Latina out of the corner of her eye as the brunette took the steps to enter the trailer. "Hey, what brings you here Callie?" Petra turned and asked.

Callie shrugged, sat down in one of the chairs and pointed to her face "You know I can't leave looking this bad P. I need your help. Please?"

Arizona sat back and observed as a new batch of tears roused in the chocolate eyes next to her. Petra laid a hand on Callie's shoulder and gave a small squeeze. "Sure thing, sweet cheeks. Let me just finish up with this beautiful lady over here, and then I'll get right back to you. Lydia should be back soon as well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind helping you out either if you're in a rush or anything."

Callie composed herself and looked up at the make-up artist in the mirror "Its fine. I have nowhere I have to be. I'll wait." She then turned her eyes to Arizona "What are you doing in here? And how do you like everything so far? Is it as exciting as you had hoped, or are you already realizing, that all of us are just ordinary people?" the Latina smiled at Arizona.

Arizona took a moment to really look at the superstar seated next to her. No doubt that this woman was absolutely breathtaking and Arizona envied every single one of her features. The big brown eyes, the long eyelashes, the caramel color of her skin and the fullness of her lips. Arizona discovered that the woman had small cute freckles across her nose that she had never really noticed when she saw her on TV or in movies before.

"Well, I'm obviously here to get all dolled up by this very talented lady right here, so I can be all pretty for my interviews with the hoard of media Addison has lined up for later" Arizona said as she pointed to Petra "And I think that you all are anything but ordinary" Arizona replied with a smirk "I had coffee with Teddy and it sounds as if you have a fair share of drama and fun in this place, and I can't wait to be a part of it".

The brunette let out a small chuckle at the blondes comment. "Well, could you then maybe provide some drama because I could really do with it being someone other than me for a while?"

Arizona gave Callie a sad smile. "It'll pass Callie. Soon some other thing will turn up, and yours and Mark's problems will be yesterday's news. And I just have to say that even though I know that you can't leave looking like this, you are still very beautiful right now. Don't ever think otherwise."

Callie smiled a genuine smile at the fairer woman. She couldn't help but feel a little bit better at the blonde's words. "Thank you. So coffee with Teddy, huh? Did she update you on all the interesting gossip that chases down the halls of this place like a wildfire?"

Arizona's eyes widened at Callie's question "Actually the most interesting thing wasn't anything she told me. It was when Addison came by and landed a peck on Teddy's lips right in front of me as if it were nothing. How the hell did that slip past the media? I have read my share of gossip magazines, and I NEVER came across that information. And I mean it is HUGE. A ridiculously successful executive producer being involved romantically with one of her female stars. That is juicy gossip, Callie. They would eat that right up."

Callie and Petra both laughed at the tone and surprise in the blonde's voice. "Yeah I know. And it's not like they keep it hidden on purpose or anything they just don't go sticking their tongue down each other's throats in public. But somehow it has slipped under the radar of the press," Callie shrugged her shoulders and smiled at the cute blonde next to her.

"How long have they been together? I mean not to pry or anything but from just that small interaction I saw today they seem so in tune with each other. And Teddy's face took on a whole different kind of softness and love the second Addison came into view." Arizona still couldn't shake the happy look that took over Teddy's face when Addison slowly caressed her cheek.

Arizona's interest and concern in Teddy's happiness fascinated the Latina, and she felt herself being grateful for the blonde woman entering their HH-family. The four years on 'Heart and Hospital' had taught Callie that the only way to survive and bring their fans the best show possible was to look out for each other on set. Their love and mutual respect for one another made them all strive to be better. Every single day. And Callie had a feeling that the blonde would fit right in.

"They have been dating just shy of two years. And I think, no I KNOW, they make each other extremely happy. Not that they never fight or anything – I can guarantee you that you will see them screaming at each other more than once. But for every one time you see that you will see them being affectionate towards each other and whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears ten times. They would stop the world from turning and take down the moon and the stars for each other, and I just can't ever picture them not being together." Callie stated with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Her thoughts immediately turned to Mark. She wouldn't ever have pictured the two of them not being together either, but here she was. About to divorce the only man she had ever truly loved. She liked to think that she looked at Mark, the same way Teddy looked at Addison, and that her face had taken on the same expression of pure love when Mark walked in to a room as Teddy's obviously did when Addison was in sight. She was painfully aware though that the expression was now partially replaced with one of heartbreak.

Arizona noticed the change in mood on the other woman's face. She once again felt her heart break for the Latina. But in some weird way she was kind of jealous too. She was sure she had never experienced that kind of heartbreak, which had to mean that she never experienced that kind of love. She had left Thomas in New York without even looking back. Of course there had been tears and whispered words of devastation about the supposed forever-kind-of-love that they both said goodbye to in that moment. But her face had never shown the heartache that Callie's currently did. And she somehow felt like she was missing out on something.

"So, you want to hear a story about how my ex-boyfriend once thought it'd be a good idea to live out his fantasy about having sex with me in some random family's garden while we were both under the influence of alcohol?" The blonde questioned with wiggling eyebrows and a smile at Callie in hopes of lightening her mood.

* * *

When Arizona made her way across the parking lot that evening she was totally beat. Her day had been filled with new impressions and information. The table read was all kinds of awesome. As it was the first table read of the season no scenes were being shot today because of some altering of the script. Most of the cast had taken the opportunity of an early exit and left right after Addison had let them off the hook in the conference room. Teddy had stayed behind and taken her time to welcome Arizona. 'Probably because she was waiting for Addison to finish up as well' Arizona concluded to herself. This meant that when Teddy left hand in hand with Addison, Arizona had spent some time alone without another cast member in sight.

She had found Nicole who showed her where her trailer and her assigned parking space were located. She had been very happy to learn that her own trailer was situated between Teddy's and Meredith's. She hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to the leading lady of the show yet but she seemed nice and fun during the table read.

Then had followed an hour in the make-up trailer with Petra. Arizona had really liked the woman. She was really down to earth, and Arizona felt like she could talk freely with her. It had been nice to take a break from being the new person among her fellow cast members and just have a normal conversation with a crew member. Callie had eventually joined them, and Arizona had taken the opportunity to tell the Latina a little bit about herself. Granted some of the stories weren't normally some she would have shared with people she just met, but the brunette seemed so sad and Arizona just wanted to at least try to change that.

The make-up trailer was replaced with the wardrobe department where she was given a VERY tight black lace dress to change in to. Every media in the entertainment business had been invited, and they had all been very interested to see what the great Addison Montgomery had up her sleeve this time. Addison herself had already made her statements before leaving with Teddy, but had assigned a very nice young man from the PR-department of the production company to accompany Arizona to her interviews. He briefed her about the different journalists and media and reminded her again and again which topics of the show she couldn't talk about. There had been no need to worry though because all the journalists seemed more interested in getting to know the new blonde edition to 'Heart and Hospital' than getting any spoilers on this season's story line.

When all the interviews were over Arizona was more than ready to go home for the day. Her new apartment was still littered with unpacked moving boxes, but Arizona decided that tonight was not the night to change that. Tonight was a night of celebration. Quiet celebration on her couch with a glass of wine and pizza. She smiled as it once again baffled her that as of today she was in fact a part of one of the biggest, most popular drama shows on TV. And although she was tired, it was a really good kind of tired.

She was shaken from her thoughts at the sound of keys being dropped. She looked around just in time to see a flash of brown hair duck down next to a gorgeous blue Thunderbird. Arizona approached the car and just as she reached her destination Callie raised to her full height.

"Hey Callie. I thought you would have been long gone by now? I mean I left you in Petra's very capable hands hours ago" the blonde questioned. She took in the Latina and her appearance. The brunette now looked absolutely flawless and except for a little redness and water in her eyes, you would never be able to tell that this woman had been on the verge of a breakdown hours earlier.

Callie smiled at the blonde. Arizona had gone out of her way to try and make Callie feel better when they were in the make-up trailer together earlier. Various stories from Arizona's past were shared, and the brunette had found herself actually really laughing for the first time in months and she was very thankful.

"Yeah, I just had some things to take care of you know. Spent a little time going over some things with a couple of the crew members as a preparation for the scenes to come. I'm not really in a rush to get home today. How did your interviews go?" Callie saw the blonde's face light up, and although it was very apparent that the other woman was very tired, you could still see the genuine happiness etched into her face as she smiled. It made her look radiating. "Judging by that smile I would go out on a limp and say that it went really well and that you kind of loved every second of it".

Arizona giggled which in turn made Callie chuckle at the cuteness of the blonde. "I loved it. I have loved every moment of this day. Well except the whole you-being-miserable of course" Arizona added and glanced at Callie.

Callie's face fell at that comment, but before Arizona had a chance to give the brunette some comforting words Callie spoke up. "You know I came here today in horrible shape. Everything in my personal life was just going in the wrong direction and all that kept me kind of sane was knowing that I got to come back on set doing what I love. I am currently in the process of divorcing what I thought was my ever after; My soulmate left me and it feels like my insides are being ripped apart. I miss him so much, and today he was right there in front of me for the first time in months. And he is going to be there practically every day from now until Christmas break. There is no escaping him whatsoever. My best friend left the show, and it seems that she kind of already forgot about me because I haven't heard from her in more than two weeks. My other best friend is both mine and aforementioned soulmates' boss, and besides that she is so content and happy that bothering her with my pathetic life just doesn't seem like an option right now." Callie rambled on, and Arizona found it quite intriguing.

"But somehow it feels different now. Somehow I have hope. Hope that everything is going to be okay. Hope that I will get over this. That telling Addison I am miserable won't put her in a bad position with Mark or make her feel guilty about her own happiness. That seeing Mark every day will become no different than seeing Derek or Alex every day. And I can't help but feel that in some weird way it has everything to do with you Arizona." The brunette looked at the blonde with tears in her eyes, but it was clear as day to Arizona that these tears were another kind of tears. The Latina looked almost some a little bit happy to Arizona in that moment.

"Thank you Arizona. Thank you for breezing in here with a warmth, a positivity and a joy that I almost forgot existed. The way you and your carefree spirit has entered this place has given me hope that my future contains some sort of fun and happy ending. Thank you." Callie finished with a sob, and Arizona acted on instinct as she reached out and pulled the taller woman towards her in a loving hug.

Callie let out a strangled cry as she hugged the other woman back. She tried to convey every ounce of gratitude into this specific hug. She couldn't explain what it was about the blonde that made her feel so grateful, she just had this feeling she couldn't shake that the addition of this particular woman to the 'HH'-family would change her life forever.

A few minutes later Arizona slowly eased out of the hug. The emotions of the other woman had surprised her. She didn't really feel like she had done anything overly helpful to the other woman today and she had no idea where all Callie's gratitude towards her came from. She had however acted promptly as she hugged the brunette tightly and the hug had been easy and not at all awkward considering Arizona and Callie had met a mere ten hours earlier.

Arizona reached up and dried a couple of tears from the Latina's cheeks as they made eye contact. "There is absolutely no need to thank me, Callie. If I had known what to do I would have done more. I want you to know that you have a friend in me. And you can always come talk to me. It doesn't matter if I'm busy or not, happy or not I will always take the time to listen to you. We're table buddies now so there's no escaping me." Arizona smiled at Callie and playfully slapped her shoulder "And stop with the tears and the mushiness. Your eyes will redden and you will ruin all of Petra's hard work on your face."

Callie couldn't help but laugh at Arizona's words. She dried her eyes, dabbed her cheeks carefully and dug through her purse for a pair of sunglasses. As she pulled them out she smirked at Arizona "Don't worry, you will learn soon enough the importance of carrying a pair of these with you EVERYWHERE you go. As long as the rest of the face looks put together, these can hide even the biggest of hangovers or heartbreaks in your eyes." She finished as she waved the sunglasses around.

Arizona smiled at Callie. Suddenly she started to wonder. "Hey, how come you parked your car out here? Don't you have a parking space near your trailer?"

Callie grinned at the blonde "Yes I do. Today I just needed a little more time before facing the world of 'Heart and Hospital'. My parking space sits right next to Mark's and with my luck his face would have been the first one I'd seen this morning. So I decided to just park out here instead." Callie put on her sunglasses and approached her car. As she unlocked it and slid into the driver's seat, she turned her attention back to Arizona.

"Thank you again Arizona. Sorry I ditched you for coffee today, we'll do it some other time, I promise. Enjoy your night, and I will see you in a couple of days." With a wink towards the blonde, Callie turned the key in the ignition and drove out of the parking space towards her home.

 **Here you go. Callie and Arizona are kind of bonding.**

 **Really hope you liked it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	4. Chapter 4

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **You guys are AWESOME and so I've decided to make the time in my busy schedule to reward you with chapter 4. All the kind words you have to say about my story both in the reviews and via PMs really warm my heart. I'm so happy you like it.**

 **Hope you Americans are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend and that the rest of you are enjoying your regular weekend ;)**

 **AN: I've mentioned a few schools in this chapter. As I'm not American I'm sorry if things aren't entirely correct. I've had to go by what I found on the internet :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

CHAPTER 4

Two days later Arizona turned off the engine of her car as she parked it on her designated spot right in front of her trailer. The last couple of days had been surreal to the blonde as news of her new job had come to the attention of her friends, family and, well, the world. Her face had been all over the entertainment channels on TV as the interviews she did had been played in a loop for the past 48 hours with headlines such as 'New blonde bombshell in Heart and Hospital is revealed' and 'Has Addison Montgomery once again picked out the next super star'.

When she stepped out of the car Meredith Grey strode up next to her. "Good morning Arizona. Hope you're ready to get into Dr. Carter mode" Meredith teased as the two of them started making their way towards their trailers.

"I'm more than ready. Addison can bring it" Arizona smiled back at the show's lead female. She parted from Meredith as she proceeded to her trailer. Unlocking the door and stepping in, Arizona looked around. She really had to bring some things to make the space more personal and homey. She placed her bag on the table, slipped her cellphone into her jeans pocket and left the trailer.

When she entered the make-up trailer ten minutes later with a latté in hand, April Kepner was already seated and getting all lacked up by make-up artist Lydia. "Hi Arizona. Good to see you again. I've really been looking forward to today" the positive red head addressed Arizona. The blonde's first scene of the day was with April and Arizona couldn't help but being happy about that. It might be a short scene, but to Arizona it was a perfect start as she was already comfortable around the red head.

"Me too April. Can't wait to get this show on the road" Arizona smiled like a fool and she knew it. Soon Petra entered and started readying Arizona for her first day of shooting. Arizona felt the nerves creep up again as she sat in the chair.

Before she knew it Petra was replaced by Mia the hairstylist. She took her time doing Arizona's long blond hair in perfect waves. 'No doubt Dr. Carter is here to knock a couple of guys of their feet' Arizona thought as she gave herself a once over in the mirror. And then she started second guessing herself. What if in fact she wasn't cut out for this? Arizona had dreamed along her friends in the business about a chance like this. But now that it was here the blonde suddenly felt like she was suffocating. Addison had never seemed to doubt that the blonde was going to nail it, but that didn't mean that Arizona herself didn't doubt it.

"Relax you are going to rock it today" a sultry voice sounded in Arizona's ear at the same time as a warm hand made contact with her upper arm and gave a comforting squeeze. The blonde looked up to see a smiling Callie standing beside her. "Besides you've got April and Mark with you, they'll look out for you and help you in any way that they can" Callie finished as she removed her hand from Arizona's arm.

Arizona sent Callie a grateful smile "Thank you Callie. And you look a lot better today" the blonde commented as she took in the Latina's appearance. The brunette wore a glint in her eyes that Arizona hadn't seen even the slightest trace of two days ago when she had met Callie Torres for the first time.

"I feel a lot better" the brunette replied as she sent Arizona a smile "I had a girls night with Addison last night, and it turns out that talking to your best friend about your problems is underrated. It really lifted my spirits."

Arizona laughed. "Well I'm glad. And I have to say I kind of like this side of you. You know the smiling side."

Callie plopped down in the chair next to Arizona "Well how about that coffee today then. That way you can take full advantage of the smiling side, I've got going today" Callie proposed with a wink.

"I would love that. After my scenes maybe? Then you can help me calm my insecurities about failing this whole thing miserably and dragging the rest of you guys down with me" Arizona smiled.

"Oh please, you will do no such thing. You didn't just randomly fall onto the set Arizona. Addison chose you because she has faith in you, which make me have faith in you" Callie said to a blushing Arizona.

* * *

Arizona's first scene with April had gone smoothly. Besides some premiere jitters Arizona had aced the scene. To be fair it was a very easy scene but the good start still meant everything to Arizona.

She stopped by the coffee cart on her break before her next scene with Mark. At the coffee cart she found Miranda Bailey. The woman was an icon on the show, and her character's carefree way of being brutally honest had made her a fan favorite.

"Hi Miranda, how's your day? You just got here?" Arizona asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee adding milk and a lot of sugar.

"Yes. And thank God for late starts because my son did not want to cooperate this morning. It took me forever to get him in his clothes" Miranda rolled her eyes.

"Oh you have a son? How old is he?" Arizona asked as she smiled at the shorter woman.

"He's 3. I divorced his dad six months ago and let me tell you, little Tucker has not taken to that change very kindly. He riots every chance he gets and it's getting real old real soon" Miranda snickered.

"If you two are going to play girls and chatter away about sons and whatnot could you maybe do it somewhere else, so the rest of us have a chance at getting some coffee?" a very disheveled looking Teddy interrupted the two brusquely.

Arizona instantly took a step to the side as the honey-blonde woman pushed towards the hot beverage.

"And hello to you too Altman. I'm going to go before I interrupt your day otherwise. Arizona it was nice talking to you and I look forward to working with you." Miranda nodded at Arizona as she turned around and left.

Arizona stood in silence looking at Teddy as she aggressively poured some coffee into a mug. Her movements were harsh and Arizona didn't have a clue as what to do. She hadn't known the woman for that long, and this version of Teddy was a far cry from the Teddy, Arizona had coffee with her first day on set.

"Do you want to say something new girl?" Teddy's question shook Arizona from her thoughts and forced her to make some kind of interaction with the other woman.

"Are you okay Teddy? You seem kind of…grumpy" Arizona stated with caution.

"Grumpy, really? That's what you want to go with? And I am not grumpy. But even though my life is good I can't just be happy all the time you know. I can't just be content all the damn time just because my life looks perfect from the outside. Maybe I also have dreams and desires for the future. Maybe sometimes I just need to be left alone. Maybe I am just not able to smile like a crazy fool twenty-four-seven. Did you think of that, huh?" Teddy turned on her heels and left a gaping Arizona behind.

'What the hell just happened' Arizona asked herself as she made her way to the studio.

* * *

Arizona's scene with Mark was actually the very first time her character would appear in on the show. She came riding in on a gurney on top of a man with cardiac arrest and a chip from a car piercing his body. Dr. Carter was a trauma surgeon and scheduled to begin her work on the hospital this particularly day, but her arrival had been delayed by her witnessing a car crash. Mark's character was manning the pit as the patient came in.

Arizona couldn't help but find it kind of inappropriate how Mark's character Dr. Daess flirted shamelessly with her own as they rushed to try and save the man on the table. But Arizona knew the romance and the drama had to exist in constant parallel on the show.

As they shot the scene Mark was very attentive to Arizona, and during the small breaks he really took his time to talk to her and make sure she felt comfortable with him. The blonde had to admit to herself that the chemistry between her and Mark was really good, and she hoped that their work somehow showed that. Arizona had long ago spotted Addison in the corner of the room observing the shooting of the scene. In the beginning this made her kind of nervous, but as soon as someone had shouted 'ACTION' Arizona forgot all about Addison.

During one of the breaks Arizona saw Callie entering and making her way towards Addison. She smiled at the brunette and turned her attention back to Mark.

Callie reached Addison and stood next to her as she eyed Arizona. "So how is she doing?" the brunette asked her boss and nodded towards the blonde.

"She is really good. I have to say that her chemistry with Mark is off the charts. They seemingly click very well" the red head answered.

Callie turned to look at Addison "That's nice. That should help the fans getting over Erica's character leaving Mark's devastated. Dr. Daess need some fun I think" the Latina laughed. Addison just returned the gesture with a small smile.

"Adds are you okay?" Callie asked as she eyed the red head that just sighed in return and shook her head.

"The baby thing came up again this morning. I don't know how. I mean we woke up early, fooled around a little you now just enjoyed each other and being together. She makes me so happy and every time I look at her I'm floored that someone as amazing as her is with me. Soon enough she will have 5 am call backs and I'll have countless meetings and dinners with writers and PR-people and directors and our time together will be downsized and limited and I won't get to see her as much, so I was really looking forward to just staying in bed until the absolute last second and just…be. With her. But then she started talking about babies again and instead of a blissful morning it all ended in a screaming match with her accusing me of demeaning her dreams and wishes for our future, and me accusing her of not knowing how much work maintaining my career takes." Addison finished out of breath as she looked at the ceiling to keep her tears at bay.

Callie threw an arm around her friend's shoulders "Oh Addison. I'm sorry. But it's going to be okay. She loves you and you love her. You guys will figure out what to do" Callie consoled the red head.

"She didn't kiss me when we got here. She always does that. No matter how big or bad a fight we've had, she has always kissed me and told me to have a nice day. But today she didn't. She just marched right to her trailer and now I don't know what to do" a dejected Addison stated as she looked at Callie.

Callie just gave her friend a compassionate smile as she hugged her a little closer. Callie eased her arm of Addison when Arizona came up to the two women.

"Hi you two. What are you doing hiding over here?" Arizona teased.

Addison smiled at her newest cast member. "Well I had to make sure you weren't letting me down" the red head teased back. "But by the looks of it you and Mark have got it covered. You looked really good together"

"Thank you Addison. That means a lot" the blonde turned her attention to Callie "Are you done for the day? Because I could really use that coffee now" Arizona asked.

Callie smiled at Arizona "Yeah, let's go". She then turned to Addison "Call me later if you feel like it, okay? And I'm home alle night so if you need it my door is open" the Latina said as she gave Addison a smile. Addison nodded her thanks to Callie and made her way out of the studio.

Arizona and Callie left the studio as well and started their way towards the lounging area. "What's up with Addison and Teddy" the blonde asked the woman next to her.

"Why do you think, there's something up with Addison and Teddy?" Callie sent the question back.

"Well Addison looked really down. Like someone-just-kicked-her-puppy down. And Teddy was kind of a bitch this morning and went off at me for no reason whatsoever. Which leads me to the conclusion that something isn't right in their land of sunshine and rainbows" Arizona answered.

The Latina chuckled at the blonde's last words and sighed "I'm going to tell you, but you need to promise that you won't tell anybody else. I trust you and I need you to not prove me wrong to do that, because Addison and Teddy will kill me for sure if they find out" Callie gave Arizona a serious look. Arizona smiled and nodded.

Callie inhaled. "Teddy want's to have kids. With Addison obviously. She brought it up a couple of months ago and then again this morning. But Addison doesn't really think, they have the time for it. She feels like their time together just the two of them is really limited as it is and she doesn't want to get a kid, that'll just have to get stuck in daycare for the majority of the day. A baby deserves better than that. Plus she's afraid that it'll put too much of a strain on their relationship, and that they won't make it. But I think she's scared to tell Teddy that because she fears that Teddy will perceive this as if Addison doesn't believe in their relationship."

"Wow, that's tough. And I mean I can see both of their points. Of course Teddy want's a family with her love. Who wouldn't dream of that? But at the same time Addison must be a very busy lady as it is. I'm sure she likes that whatever little down time she has can be spent on giving Teddy her full attention. A kid will leave them next to no time to each other and their relationship." Arizona rambled on as she processed Callie's revelation.

"Yeah, I know. But I think they really need to just talk it out. Give room for both of their opinions and thoughts. Without judgements". Callie concluded as they made it to the coffee cart at the lounging area.

They placed their orders, got their coffees and sat down on a couch. Callie pulled one of her feet up under her and turned to face Arizona. "So Ms. Robbins. Tell me about you" the brunette required as she took a sip of her coffee.

Arizona smiled at Callie "Well, I went to University of Minnesota. I was really stoked to get in and I absolutely loved it. I loved how you get really close with you classmates and just stay together as a group in better or worse for the duration of your education. Some of my best friends are from my time at U of M. I graduated five years ago and moved to New York the day after graduation. Then I spent the next five years trying to get a job. I've had minor supporting roles in TV-shows and smaller theater productions, but when Addison asked me to audition for 'Heart and Hospital' I knew this was the big chance I'd been waiting for. And I just prayed every single night for a week before the audition that I wouldn't choke and mess it up because I might only be this lucky one time." The blonde sent the brunette a smile.

"From what I saw Arizona, you are really good. And if Addison hadn't seen it someone else would have. But I get what you mean. I struggled to for a while after graduating from Juilliard eight years ago. I got smaller parts on plays on Broadway, but it wasn't until I got my role in 'Tell me what you really think' that it all just seemed to come together. And then I won my Tony for that role, and then Addison made me a part of this show, and then it just starting rolling…" Callie reminisced with a smile.

"And now you're going to get nominated for, and probably win, an Academy Award" Arizona stated with a huge smile.

Callie laughed. "We'll see about that. I mean I heard the rumors too, but I'm far from convinced. Besides when are those rumors ever true?" Callie questioned.

Arizona reached out and put her hand over Callie's that rested in her lap. "They will be true this time, because I saw the movie and MY GOD Callie you are AMAZING in it. I bawled my eyes out and that really says something because I'm really not that easy to turn into a sobbing mess at the movies" the blonde gave the Latina the biggest most sincere smile she could muster.

Callie felt her cheeks heat up "Thank you. Those were really kind words. I get kind of embarrassed."

Arizona chuckled at the brunette "No need to feel embarrassed. You're very talented. Your family must be extremely proud of you."

"Yeah they are. My parents have seen every single production I've ever been in. I feel like I've kind of given back these last years though, because those first productions were crap" Callie giggled "My three sisters are undoubtedly proud too but in a different way. I'm the eldest. My youngest sister is 16 years younger than me, and I think that at the age of 14 the joy of being able to say to people that your sister is Callie Torres for your own benefit and getting personalized autographs from super stars take up more space than feeling proud of me for my accomplishments. The street cred you get for that in junior high is apparently unbelievable" the brunette finished with a laugh and Arizona soon joined her.

"What about your family? Aren't they proud of you too? Because even though you might not have a hypothetical Oscar yet, being a part of this show is kind of big too" Callie teased.

The blonde replied with a chuckle "Yeah, they are very proud. My mom squealed so loud in to the phone when I told her I got the part that I actually thought I would lose hearing on my ear permanently. I grew up just outside this really small town in Georgia and it's not really tradition that you leave. Most people marry their high school sweetheart and take on the same career as their parents. But I just had this longing and dream of doing something else with my life."

Arizona took a breath before continuing "I have a brother, Tim. He's a year older than me. I think he always dreamed of something different as well. But my parents could only afford college for one of us, so he kind of sacrificed his dream so I was able to fulfill mine. He made me promise, that he could be my date for my first award-ceremony. Tim's actually made a bet with his best friend Nick that I'll win my first award before I'm 30. I have to get a move on though, because my almost 29-year old ass is nowhere near winning anything" the blonde finished and for the first time Callie saw something resembling sadness in Arizona's eyes.

"Hey, you'll get there. I know that it's only a much selected few that get to win anything in this business, but I'm very confident that you'll be one of those few" Callie stated with a smile.

Arizona laughed "How do you know that? You've barely seen me act! I know you didn't really pay attention when I was shooting my scene with Mark, so for you to say that is just ridiculous."

"It's really not Arizona. You are a ray of sunshine and yet you can convey so many emotions. Because you have empathy. I don't need to see you act to discover that. And that is very important in acting. If you don't have empathy you can't possibly project what your characters are feeling. Someday Addison is going to tell everyone she meets with pride that she was the one who discovered you" Callie finished.

The duo was interrupted by Alex Karev. "Callie, Addison asked me to tell you that she wants us here an hour earlier tomorrow. She wants to go over the whole break up scene with us beforehand. Make sure everything is in sync with the characters and their personality traits."

Callie smiled at Alex. "Sure Karev. I still can't believe she's breaking them up. They've been all kinds of amazing together for almost four years. I'm kind of sad I don't get to fake-kiss your ugly face anymore" Callie finished with a smirk at Alex.

"Well I'll make sure to make it worth your while for our last kiss tomorrow so you won't forget me" Alex said with a teasing smile, turned his attention to Arizona and held out his hand for her to take "Hi Arizona. I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Alex. I've actually been meaning to talk to you. I would like to invite you for morning work outs with me and some of the other guys from the cast. I mean I couldn't help but look at your legs in those shorts the other day, and I could tell that you don't get that kind of muscle definition in your thighs by sitting on your ass all day."

Both Callie and Arizona raised an eyebrow at Alex at that comment and the man got a flustered look on his face before he continued "Anyway we work out every day at 5 am. Obviously sometimes some of us have to be at the set at that time and we have to skip it or we have the day off, but someone's always there. It's at the studio gym and we have a trainer assigned. Just be there at 5 if you feel like it.

"Thank you Alex, that's really nice of you. And I will most definitely be taking you up on that offer. Because no, sitting on my ass did not get me this body. It'll be fun to have someone to work out with again" Arizona gave the man a genuine smile.

"Great. Then that's settled. I will see both of you tomorrow" Alex said and took his leave.

Callie looked to a smiling Arizona. "Well that should be interesting. I can't wait to hear how many of them fall off the treadmill because they are too busy ogling you in your shorts and tight top or whatever you wear to the gym. Some of them might be in committed relationships but they are a bunch of horn dogs when you put them together in one room. Add a hot piece of ass to that and it's just a recipe for disaster.

Arizona broke out in a hearty laugh that was music to Callie's ears.

"I'll make sure to wear my skimpiest shorts and my tightest most revealing top and tell you all about it Callie. But now I think I'll take my hot piece of ass and go home. It's been yet another big day and I'm kind of tired already. Thank you for coffee though. I really like spending time with you. Maybe we should at least make it a weekly thing. To spend a few hours and catch up. What do you think?" Arizona shyly asked Callie.

Callie found the blonde's shyness adorable. "I think it's a great idea. Because I like spending time with you too" the Latina smiled at the blonde.

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night Callie" Arizona said before getting up from the couch and heading for the door. With one last wave at the brunette, the blonde made her way towards her car.

 **That's it for chapter 4 :)**

 **Please do tell me what you think of it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	5. Chapter 5

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **After a couple of really crazy and very busy days, I'm back with chapter 5. Once again thank you for sticking with my story. I appreciate all the love.**

 **For guest greys4ever: You have a way bigger chance at succeeding as an actress if you attend Drama School – which was what Arizona did at U of M. I know you pay tuition for college in the US and I assume that goes for getting BFAs as well. And after paying the tuition for Arizona's attendance at drama school at U of M their parents couldn't afford to pay for Tim's college as well.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading :)**

CHAPTER 5:

Arizona had been a part of the 'Heart and Hospital'-family for six weeks now and she was really beginning to get the hang of it and form some sort of routine. She had taken Alex up on his offer and most days of the week she was up at 4.30 am to be at the studio gym for workouts at 5 with some of her male colleagues.

The first time had been interesting just like Callie predicted. Mark, Alex, Jackson and Owen had been there and all four of them had been very close to injuring themselves more than once in their mission to impress the blonde woman with their muscles. Jackson had left training early with an earful from the trainer, Andy, and a strained thigh muscle. Arizona had just laughed at the guys and done her thing. The guys, including their trainer, had all been more than impressed with the woman's strength and endurance.

This morning was no different. Arizona had dragged her still half-asleep body out from under the warmth of her duvets and driven to the studio first thing. Now she was on her way from her car to the gym while she ate a banana to get some energy. She found that her nerves were already setting in though, and that the banana did nothing good to calm her queasy stomach.

As she entered the gym she was met with Owen and Derek walking on the treadmills. "Good morning guys. Ready for another beautiful day?" she smiled at her two colleagues as she herself got ready to get on one of the free treadmills.

"Like always" Owen replied. He and Arizona had been the only ones whose schedule had allowed for them to be there at every scheduled morning workout and they had formed some sort of bond while they busted their asses off in the wee hours of the mornings.

Just then their trainer Andy entered. "Hello ladies…and Arizona." The young man chuckled at his own joke "You know what today is: CARDIODAY, woohoo. Get those treadmills into gear and start running."

Arizona laughed slightly as she pushed the speed control. As she began running, Mark entered and took the treadmill next to hers. "Good morning sunshine. How is my favorite on-screen lover today?"

Arizona glanced at Mark. She had formed what she considered a friendship with the man during the small breaks of their many, many scenes together. Their characters had started out by flirting shamelessly and were currently beginning to date on the show. In today's scenes however their characters took their relationship to a new level.

"Nervous as fuck, and don't pretend like you didn't know that already." Arizona smirked at Mark. They had had this conversation yesterday before they went home for the day.

"Relax. It's going to be fine. I'll protect you and block your goodies as much as possible" Mark gave a small laugh at the appaled look on the blonde woman's face.

"It's easy for you to tell me to relax. You are not the one standing there in front of an entire crew with only some small nipple covers and a skimpy, nude thong separating you from complete nudity. Even my butt cheeks are out for the world to see." Arizona fired back. She had kind of dreaded this day since they read the script at the table read.

"Well, I know I haven't seen anything – yet", the man winked at Arizona, "but I am absolutely certain that you have nothing to be ashamed about. Why work so hard if you aren't going to show your body to the world. Besides, I'll be half naked too. Those nude speedos aren't any prettier than your nude thong, let me tell you that".

Arizona laughed a little at that. And even though she was still really loren at the thought of it, she was glad that Mark was going to be there with her.

* * *

Callie parked her car at her designated parking space. It was only 6.30 am and the brunette absolutely hated being on set that early. She just wanted to kill the alarm clock and stay in her bed for a couple of extra hours when it went off at 5.30.

As she got out of her car she spotted Addison walking alone across the open area towards the main entrance. To say things were still tense between the red head and her girlfriend would be an understatement. Every time they were in the same room the temperature dropped below freezing. The last week had been particularly bad and Callie couldn't remember seeing them speak one word to each other during this period.

"Good morning Addison" Callie called out to the red head. Addison turned around and waited for the brunette to catch up with her.

"Hey Callie. You probably love being here this early on such a fine day, right?" Addison commented and laughed at the expression on the Latina's face.

"Ugh! It's the worst. And I don't even have an early call back today. I'm just here bright and early for moral support for Arizona. She's been really anxious about today" Callie grimaced as they started making their way towards the entrance "But I get it. I almost threw up the first time I had to show any form of skin. So, no Teddy this morning?" The brunette asked carefully.

Addison's face fell at the mentioning of her honey-blonde lover. "No, she's off today. She is probably still sleeping. In our guest bedroom." Addison added the last part in a whispered voice and Callie felt her heart ache for her red headed friend.

"Your guest bedroom? How long has she been sleeping in there? Is it really that bad Addison? Are you trying to fix it?" the brunette questioned as she halted Addison's movement by grapping her arm.

"Of course I'm trying to fix it Callie. What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past five and a half weeks?!" Addison harshly let out. "And yet it just seems as if it is getting worse every day. Last week she suddenly announced that she would be sleeping in the guest bedroom until she figured out what she wants. I mean somehow she is now reconsidering our entire relationship, and all there's left for me to do is give her space and wait for her to come to some sort of decision. And it is killing me Callie" the red head let out with tears brimming her eyes.

Callie reached out and hugged her friend tightly. And for the first time in the four years she had known her, Callie witnessed the always-put-together Addison Montgomery fall apart. The red head sobbed loudly into the brunettes shoulder as the Latina caressed her back lovingly.

"I'm sure it's going to be okay Ads. But I think you need to maybe consider what you want too. I'm not saying you should get a baby if you really don't want to, but if the only reason for not wanting it is your career, then maybe you need to look for a solution to that problem. Because the price you might pay for not looking for that solution could be Teddy" Callie stated with sympathy for the other woman.

Addison clung to the brunette "I love her so much. I can't live without her. I don't want to live without her. If she leaves me it will end me Callie".

Callie sighed at that comment. "I know it seems confusing right now. But you guys really need to talk to each other. And then maybe you will find a solution and maybe you won't. But no matter what you will survive this. Trust me, I know" Callie let out with a small chuckle.

"When Mark left me I thought that this was it. This was the end of any form of happiness for me. And I kind of spent the whole summer bawling my eyes out on my parent's beach in Miami. I didn't want to do anything anymore. But then somehow I decided that if me being a super star was going to cost me a lifetime with my soulmate then I had to at least continue being a super star. And then I came back here. And it was like a breath of fresh air. And I'd like to believe that I'm starting to move on now. And IF you and Teddy can't work this out, then you'll find your breath of fresh air as well. And you'll start to move on eventually. But I really hope that won't be the case because you guys belong together" Callie finished with one last squeeze of the red head.

"Thanks Callie. That means a lot. And I know I told you this already, but I'm going to tell you again – you should have called me. I would have come to Miami for you. I would have been there for you if I'd known you were that bad. But you seemed okay and to terms with it when we talked about it before hiatus. You'll promise to talk to me next time, right?" Addison sent her friend a small smile.

Callie laughed a little. "I really hope there won't be a next time Ads. But yeah, I promise. Thank you. And my door is still open, you know. If being there with her gets too much. You're more than welcome to crash at my place for a few days".

"Thank you. I don't know if that'll make it better or worse though." Addison dried her eyes and pulled herself together the best she could "Come on, let's get in there. Your new BFF has her first ever semi-nude shoot today, and I have to go to my office and then we are getting you some coffee before going to the set to keep an eye on her."

Addison lopped her arm through Callie's and the pair made their way to the main entrance.

* * *

Arizona was a nervous wreck. And she looked ridiculous. She'd never been ashamed of her body, but all smeared in some kind of oil with only two nude patches covering and efficiently hiding her nipples and an insanely uncomfortable, pig-colored thong covering her more intimate parts, she didn't feel as at ease about her body as she usually did.

She groaned and threw on the robe that lay on a chair in the dressing room. She left the dressing room and went to the studio. When she arrived, Mark was already there and one of the crew members approached the two cast members. "Ok guys. We'll go over the scene one more time with your robes on and then we'll send anyone out who is not absolutely necessary to make you both feel more comfortable" the young woman stated with a smile.

As she finished the doors to the small set was being opened and in came Addison and Callie. Arizona smiled and felt immensely grateful for the Latina. Her and Callie had stayed true to their word and met up at least once a week for coffee. Lately it had been a lot more though, and Arizona easily considered the brunette her best friend among her colleagues. They had really hid it off and had reached a state in their friendship where they could really be themselves around each other. If Arizona was honest with herself, the brunette hadn't just become her best friend among her colleagues she had become her best friend period.

Callie watched as the director and one of the young PAs briefed Arizona and Mark about the shooting of the scene one last time. Then everyone that didn't have to be there was ushered out for the privacy of the two actors. Mark shed his robe as if it were nothing and was left in some very small nude colored speedos. Callie had to smile as she took in her former husband's form. He was back to his old self and the weight he had lost while on hiatus was clearly back on. He looked good and that made the brunette feel happy. She loved the guy and she hated seeing him in any less than his best spirits.

Next to Mark stood a very fidgety Arizona and Callie saw the blonde play nervously with the hem of her robe. Mark stood up next to the clearly very uneasy woman and put both his hands on Arizona's arms. The brunette watched as Mark said something to the blonde woman that made her throw her head back in laughter. Callie couldn't help but feel grateful for Mark in that moment. He was a good guy, and he clearly had a way of easing the blonde's nerves.

Very slowly Arizona started to undo the tie on her robe. She took in a deep breath as she felt the bow of the tie come undone and her skin was starting to reveal. As the robe was about to open Mark grabbed the two sides and held them together. He looked Arizona dead in the eye as he spoke "Let me know if you at any point need a break and I'll think of some excuse to make them give us a minute, okay? But I'm confident that you'll do fine, and I can't imagine that you're anything but beautiful underneath this" the handsome man sincerely stated before letting go of the robe.

As the fabric fell to her sides and revealed her entire front Arizona saw Mark trying, and failing, not to look at her. His eyes very quickly skimmed her body and the small smirk that adorned his face seconds later made the blonde feel some sort of self-assurance.

Callie and Addison stood still in the corner of the room and observed the two actors' interactions. "Well I think it's safe to say, that Mark definitely likes what he sees" Addison stated with a whisper when the robe revealed some of the blonde actress' body to her male co-star.

This comment made Callie smile but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous. She knew the look on Mark's face and the fire that burned in those eyes in that moment. He used to give the Latina that look with those eyes.

The brunette's thoughts were interrupted, when Arizona shed the robe completely and revealed the rest of her body. The blonde's backside was turned to Addison and Callie, but the dismissal of the robe exposed a toned back, a very firm very tight ass and some long, creamy legs. Callie couldn't help but take in the sight of the blonde woman's backside. She'd never before taken the time to admire the womanly form like this. The blonde was beautiful and Callie envied the way Arizona's backside conveyed both strength and smoothness in such a unique way.

When the blonde turned around Callie forgot how to breathe for just a second. If she thought the fair woman had been beautiful with her back exposed, this was a whole new league. Arizona's front was flawless. Her stomach was toned to the point of just hinting at some defined muscles underneath giving a firm look to the otherwise soft look of the narrow, womanly hips and the two pale and perfectly round breasts that were completely bare apart from the nipple patches. On top of that Arizona had legs that seemed to go on forever to the brunette. She instantly knew what Alex was talking about, when he spoke of the blonde's muscle definition in her thighs weeks earlier. The pale thighs showed clear definition of muscle strength all the way from the knee and up to her hips, and Callie caught herself thinking about how sliding her hand up those thighs would feel like.

The brunette was shaken from her musings as Addison leaned in and whispered in her ear "Wow, that woman's body is perfect. If I looked like that I would walk around naked all the time". Callie nodded at Addison but kept her eyes transfixed on the blonde woman who had now begun shooting her scene with Mark. The pair looked impossibly hot together and Callie knew they were destined to be a fan favorite couple on the show.

As the shooting of the scene came to a first break Arizona put on her robe to gather some warmth in the chilly setting and made her way to Callie and Addison in the corner of the set. Addison had on a big happy smile, but Arizona couldn't really place the look on Callie's face. "My God Arizona, don't take this the wrong way, but you look amazing. I might have to start hitting the gym with you guys in the mornings." Addison smirked as the male cast member joined the trio in the corner.

Mark and Arizona smiled at each other as he put his arm around the shorter woman's shoulders. "Oh please Addison. You can't handle us. You would quit after two minutes because you got too sweaty" Arizona laughed at Mark's comment and turned her attention back to the Latina and the red head. Callie was still looking at her with a strange look and the intensity of the look made Arizona feel like the brunette could see right through her.

Callie tried to get the image of a semi naked Arizona out of her mind. She couldn't remember ever seeing a woman's body she envied that much. And she was certain she had never seen another woman's body that she felt the urge to reach out and touch before. Callie was utterly amazed at her friend's physical appearance.

The Latina finally snapped out of it and found her tongue, which made her expression towards the blonde soften. "Addison's right. You are really beautiful and the fans are going to just eat the two of you up. You make one good looking couple".

Arizona couldn't help but blush slightly as the two women praised her looks. "Thank you guys. For the compliments but also for coming. I really appreciate the support."

Addison reached out and put her hand on the blonde's upper arm. "You're welcome. I just want you to thrive Arizona. If you need something, or anything is bothering you please come talk to me. It looks like you've got this under control though, so if you don't mind I'm going to head to my office to get some work done". After a nod from the blonde, the red head took off towards the door.

Arizona turned to Callie "Are you going to go too? When do you have scenes?" The blonde really hoped the Latina would stay. The mere present of the other woman made her feel a little better.

Callie smiled at the uneasy expression on Arizona's face as the blonde subtly bit her lip. "I don't have scenes until after lunch. I'll stay."

A megawatt smile broke out on the fair woman's face as she mouthed a thank you to the brunette before her and Mark went back to their scene.

 **That's it for chapter 5. Callie seemed to like Arizona half naked ;)**

 **Please let me know what you think of this chapter.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	6. Chapter 6

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES **

**Hi again guys :)**

 **I'm back with chapter 6.**

 **This chapter is quite long because some things are happening.**

 **Thank you for your amazing reviews for chapter 5. I continue to be overwhelmed that so many of you guys stick with the story and keep on reading. It makes me so happy that you like it.**

 **For those of you who can't seem to deal with the fact, that Mark and Arizona's characters on 'Heart and Hospital' are together, then I'm sorry, but then this story just isn't for you because they will continue to be so at least for the time being. I'm sorry I'm just a really open person and to me them being together on my fictional show isn't a problem at all. As for Mark and Arizona's budding romance – remember, Arizona WILL end up with Callie! Trust me guys (I would say trust the journey but I'm sure you would all flee my story at those words :P )**

 **That being said I really hope that a lot of you choose to give me and my story a chance and continue reading this.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Have fun.**

CHAPTER 6:

Callie was struggling. It had been four days since she'd witnessed Arizona and Mark shoot their scene. And she couldn't for the life of her get the image of a practically naked Arizona out of her mind. At first she had told herself, it was because she envied the blonde's obviously beautiful physical features. But as she woke up on the third day with a very vivid dream in which she had lived out the entire disrobing of the blonde on set once again, she started doubting that.

The Latina had never been attracted to a woman before, but she was fairly certain that was what was happening right now. She was physically attracted to Arizona. The recognition of that had freaked the brunette out big time at first and she had a minor panic attack at home in her kitchen last night when the thought had first entered her mind.

The panic had soon been replaced with fear though. Because how would this affect her friendship with the blonde. Callie wasn't going to act on it. She was certain it would pass. But would it change her interactions with the blonde? Would it have consequences for their friendship? They had gotten really close to one another, and Callie really treasured that. But did that mean she should be honest with Arizona? And how would the blonde react to Callie's revelation if she told her?

Callie shook her head to clear her thoughts. Tonight was not the night to worry about it. Tonight was the season premier party and Callie had always loved the season premier parties. Everybody was so full of anticipation for the season to come and that made for great parties and a lot of the cast and crew really let loose. The brunette slipped of her jeans and t-shirt and stood in front of the mirror. She studied herself as she stood in her black lace bra and thong. Callie had always been very satisfied with her own body. Obviously she had curves and her Latina genes shone through, but she knew that she looked good. Any man she had ever been with had praised her looks and couldn't really seem to get enough.

Still as she stood there she couldn't help but compare her own body to that of Arizona's. They were strikingly different. She was sure that where Arizona would be firm and smooth to touch, she herself was soft and velvety. Callie sighed as she pulled her purple, low back dress of the hanger and slipped into it.

* * *

Arizona had looked forward to this night for weeks. When she started working at 'Heart and Hospital' the rest of the cast had told her tales about the epic season premier parties that had been held.

At the entrance to the backstage area, where the cast and crew were to meet before walking the red carpet, she found Teddy staring at the door. The blonde knew that things were really tense in Teddy and Addison's relationship but even though Arizona had tried to get the honey-blonde woman to talk to her she hadn't succeeded. And as Arizona took in Teddy's appearance it was very clear that the whole thing was taking its toll on the woman standing at the door. Her shoulders were slumped, her eyes looked dull and faint and her entire face seethed fatigue and exhaustion. " Hi Teddy. You look really beautiful" the blonde commented as she eyed the honey-blonde in her pale pink dress. "Are you going in? Where's Addison?"

Teddy looked at Arizona with a glazed over look in her eyes. "I don't know. We didn't go together. One of us wouldn't have made it in one piece if we did" the tall woman answered as she sent a sad smile to Arizona. The she turned her attention back to the door. "You know I used to love these things. But tonight I just want to go home and curl up in my bed. Everything is a mess and I know she's going to be here and look absolutely stunning which will only make everything harder. I think I'm going to break up with her Arizona. It can't go on like this. We're both miserable and if I leave then maybe she will have a chance at happiness. She deserves that. It's the only thing I want for her," Teddy stated with a deep sigh.

Arizona took a step closer to her friend and put an arm around her waist. "I don't know what's going on, because you haven't really told me. But let's table this talk to some other time and then go in there and try to have some fun tonight. I'll be there the entire time if you need me. And then maybe some time soon we could have a girls' night in and you can tell me everything that's going on while we get drunk of our asses in wine or tequila or whatever you prefer. Sounds good?" The blonde smiled as Teddy let out a little laugh.

"That sounds really, really good. Thank you. And you don't have to pretend like Callie didn't tell you what's going on with me and Addison" Teddy let out as they started making their way towards the door.

"She did. But I want to hear it from YOU, Teddy. Not from my friend who heard it from her friend who just happens to be the woman you're currently in some sort of lovers quarrel with. You're my friend Teddy. Please let me be there for you" Arizona caressed Teddy's back and got a grateful smile and a nod in return.

The blonde duo opened the door and made their way in to the room. The majority of the cast was already there and Arizona spotted Callie instantly. She stood of to the side with Mark. The purple dress she wore really featured her gorgeous Latina curves and the tone of her caramel skin in the best possible way and Arizona felt very jealous of her friend's beauty in that moment.

Callie waved the duo over when she spotted them. As they walked towards her, Callie took in the two women. Arizona was wearing a tight light blue dress that showed of her toned body and her feminine figure perfectly and really highlighted the color of her eyes. In fact Callie could see them sparkling from across the room. But that could be the blonde's excitement shining through as well. The brunette turned her eyes to Teddy who looked drop dead gorgeous in a flowing pale pink dress with a lace bustier in the same color. Callie knew within seconds that Addison was going to drop her jaw when she saw the woman.

The thought had barely left Callie before she spotted Addison enter the area in an emerald green dress that complimented her hair color perfectly. Callie waved for her to come over too, but Addison just shook her head before she trained her eyes on Teddy's figure. At the pained look on Addison's face, Callie considered joining her red headed friend across the room to make sure she was okay, but just when she was about to move Arizona and Teddy caught up with her and Mark.

"Good evening blondie one and blondie two. You guys really clean up nicely" Mark stated as he left out a wolf whistle.

"Shut it with the nicknames Sloan" Teddy commented as she took the flute of champagne, Mark held out for her, and downed it in one gulp.

"Woah Teds, ease up will you. I'm going to go get you a new glass" Mark said and left the three women alone.

"You look really beautiful Teddy. That dress is amazing" Callie said as she sipped her own champagne.

"Thank you Callie, you too." Teddy hesitated before continuing. "Is she here yet? Have you talked to her?" the honey-blonde anxiously asked.

Callie gave Teddy a sympathetic smile. "She just walked in, and no I haven't talked to her yet. She's over there" the brunette pointed her nearly empty glass behind the two blondes.

Arizona and Teddy both turned around and Callie watched as the grey-blue and the green eyes of her friends met. Tons of emotions swirled in both of their eyes as they held each other's gaze. The spell was broken when Addison tore her eyes away from the honey-blonde woman and said something to the man standing next to her. Callie knew he was one of the board members of the production company. Then Addison made her way across the room.

"Good evening ladies" she stated as she made it to the three women. Her eyes however were entirely fixated on Teddy.

"Hi" the green eyed woman breathed out as a small smile tore at the corners of her mouth.

Addison stepped forward and took one of Teddy's hands in her own. "You are so beautiful. I can't even…" The red head let go of the other woman's hand and reached up and cupped the honey-blonde woman's cheek. " .BEAUTIFUL."

Teddy put her own hand over Addison's and closed her eyes. "Thank you" she replied with a tearful voice. Arizona and Callie watched as Teddy opened her eyes, stepped forward and pressed her lips to the red head's. Addison was taken completely by surprise and before she had the chance to repay the kiss properly, it was over. Teddy stepped away from Addison and made her way to the other side of the room where Meredith and Cristina were standing.

Addison eyed the retreating woman and the turned her attention to Callie and Arizona. A smile took over her face and it made Callie extremely happy to see a genuine smile on the red heads face. "I have to go talk to PR-Shannon. We hit the red carpet any minute so don't go anywhere" Addison stated before heading towards the exit.

Callie turned to Arizona who had a funny look on her face. She looked almost sad. "Hey lighten up Arizona. You look hot and you're about to walk the red carpet as a star of 'Heart and Hospital' for the first time. It's going to be an awesome night" Callie said with a smile to the blonde.

Arizona sighed and looked straight in to Callie's chocolate brown eyes. "I know. I'm just really worried about Teddy. She's clearly not okay".

Callie put her hand on Arizona's forearm to calm her down. "She's going to be fine Arizona. And there's nothing you can do about it right now. But she and Addison will work it out. I mean Teddy just kissed her so there's obviously still love."

Before Arizona had the chance to reply that she didn't think that kiss was an entirely positive thing, Shannon called out for the cast and crew to gather round. The crew members were the first ones to walk the red carpet. That went by really fast and Arizona thought to herself that she hoped her entrance on the red carpet would go by just as fast. And that she wouldn't trip. Or choose some ugly pose. She was getting kind of nervous about the whole thing.

Then Meredith and Derek were up. The red carpet room lit up like the fourth of July when the couple stepped out and the flashes went off. Dr. Porter and Dr. Dewer were mighty popular characters and were named the 'POWER' couple by the fans. Add to that an off-screen romance between the two actors and it really made them interesting to the press and the public.

Then Alex and Jo made their way through the room. They posed and answered a few questions here and there as they walked along. Next up were Teddy and Andrew. It had been decided that the actors would take the red carpet in pairs of two and the PR-department had proposed that Andrew and Teddy walked together due to the close friendship between their characters on the show. They knew that there was going to be questions about if that friendship would evolve to something more in the new season.

But as soon as Teddy stepped foot on the carpet a huge wave of questions were fired her way and Andrew was completely ignored. Arizona didn't get all of it, but words as 'comments', 'intimate relationship' and 'Addison Montgomery' reached Arizona's ears. Teddy looked like a dear caught in headlights. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before looking first to Andrew and then out toward the backstage area for help from her friends and not least her lover. Addison stood rooted to the spot, and it was very clear to Callie that the red head had no idea what to do. Teddy looked back at the reporters, posed a few times completely ignoring the questions and fled the room leaving Andrew standing there alone. "You need to go out there next Arizona. When you get there they'll focus on you and the excitement of your first time here. Maybe some of all the drama and gossip regarding our personal lives will be forgotten for a minute" Callie pleaded with the blonde.

Arizona inhaled. She knew the Latina was right. They needed someone or something to distract them from Teddy and the apparent outing of her and Addison. The blonde felt a presence next to her before a hand was placed on her shoulder. "I'll go with her. Her being the new girl on the block as well as our divorce will make the journalists move right along. Plus they'll definitely ask questions about our characters relationship with each other if we are out there together" Mark concluded. "Don't worry Cal I won't give them any details about us. Just enough to keep them at satisfied and hopefully keep them from pestering you."

Callie sent the man a grateful smile. Originally she and Mark were supposed to go together to try and calm down some of the rumors about the war that were supposedly going on between the two super stars of 'Heart and Hospital' because of their divorce. The brunette watched as Mark and Arizona made their way towards the entrance. Arizona looked clearly nervous but as always a comforting word from Mark in her ear as well as a hand on the small of her back seemed to calm her nerves a little bit. Then her new friend and her former lover made their way out on the red carpet together.

Callie watched when Mark hooked his arm around Arizona's waist and pulled her closer while the couple giggled and joked around with the journalists. They commandeered the carpet and Arizona looked like she'd been doing it forever. Callie couldn't help but feel jealous. Not only was her ex-husband openly flirting with someone else in front of the media, but that someone else was her friend. A friend that she very quickly had formed a strong bond with, and whom she recently found out she was slightly physically attracted to. It was a mess and Callie felt her life spinning a little bit out of control in that precise moment.

As a God sent, Nathan Riggs came up to the brunette and held his arm out for her to loop hers through. "Thank you" the Latina sighed in relief at the man next to her.

"Don't mention it. Being ditched by the show's newest addition hurts a little less, when she's being traded for the shows most beautiful star" Nathan sent a dazzling smile at a chuckling Callie before they walked up to the door.

Before walking out Callie turned around and gave Addison a worried look. The red head smiled at her friend in return "I'm okay. Just shocked that's all. I'll be fine. I'm just going to talk to Shannon and get her input on this. You go" she assured Callie.

Callie and Nathan made their way through the room while they posed both together and individually. The Latina had picked up on all of her good angles during her experience with these sorts of things. A few questions were being made about her and Mark and the brunette answered them as best as she could without her ex-husband by her side. Nathan kept a strong grip on her waist the whole time, and the Latina felt thankful for the strong arms supporting her. She noticed more than once that he smelled really good as well.

The rest of the cast made their way through the red carpet room. It was rather uneventful after the whole Teddy thing. Only Owen and Amelia had to answer a couple of questions about their romantic getaway. Lastly only Addison was left. Callie could tell that her friend was nervous as she spotted the other woman prepare herself to join the journalists on the red carpet.

Arizona, Teddy and Callie watched from the other side as Addison made her way out to the mass of reporters after one last word of wisdom from Shannon. Flashes went off and just like with Teddy a million questions were fired towards the red head at once. Addison held up her hand to silence the crowd of journalists. Grey-blue eyes glanced briefly to the green ones of her girlfriend before she addressed the horde of reporters.

The red head took in a breath before she started. "I don't know what you've heard or where you've heard it. But I can confirm that I'm in a romantic relationship with Teddy Altman. We have been together for quite some time and we share an address. It's never been our intentions to keep it a secret, we just never felt the need to make an official statement or shout it from the rooftops either. I don't consider it as problematic because of our work relations nor does it create any problems with the rest of the cast. I don't favor Teddy or her character in any ways, and I told the rest of the cast and my crew that if any issues might occur due to our relationship they can come and talk to me about it. When at the 'Heart and Hospital' set I am everybody's boss first and foremost. Outside of that I am a personal friend to most of them, and I just happen to be involved with one of their other friends. They have all been extremely welcoming to us as a couple and I am grateful for that. Teddy is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me, and no words can express how deeply I love her. I know this is a big thing but I really hope you'll respect our private life. Thank you".

Addison posed for a couple of photos before walking off the red carpet. She cautiously walked up to the honey-blonde woman who had her eyes fixated on the approaching red head. Callie and Arizona shared a look as Addison reached them.

"Teddy I am so sorry. I have no idea how they found out. I know it's horrible timing with everything going on but I didn't know what else to do but to come clean, sweetie. Please don't be mad" Addison stopped her rambling.

"We need to go out there. Together. They'll spend all of their time hunting us down to make sure they are the one to get that first picture of us together, if we don't give it to all of them right now. And I really don't think we need the paparazzo on our tails" Teddy told the red head. She reached out and took Addison's hand "And I'm not mad Addi. It was the only thing to do. And your words were beautiful and flattering. Thank you".

The honey-blonde pulled the slightly taller woman into a hug and wrapped her arms around the red head's neck. Callie saw her friend smile and inhale as she hugged her girlfriend back tightly.

The two of them parted and with one last look at each other they went back out on the red carpet hand in hand. Flashes and questions were once again being fired towards the couple. Arizona and Callie stood next to each other and watched as their friends snuggled up together and posed for photos.

"I have no idea whether this is helping or going to make it all worse for them" Callie dejectedly said as her and Arizona kept their eyes on the two women currently standing hand in hand.

"I have no idea either" the blonde admitted. "And I feel really bad for them. I know it's the price of fame and everything, but being blindsided by the press like this must be really tough. Maybe it would have been best to just make a statement or make sure there were pictures in somewhat intimate situations from the beginning. Get it out and over with." Arizona continued as the brunette and the blonde watched Addison lie a soft and loving kiss on Teddy's lips and the light of the flashes intensify.

"Yeah, I don't know about that. But it's definitely something to consider when you're starting a relationship while being in the media spotlight. Come on. Let's go have some fun. We can't do anything for them right now anyway. They'll find us if they need us. I think they're going to need a minute alone after this" Callie said as she dragged Arizona towards the bar.

* * *

Hours later the party was in full swing. Arizona absolutely loved it. She had spent a lot of time doing tequila shots with Meredith, Cristina and Amelia. The Asian woman had been very welcoming to the blonde the second Arizona let the threesome know that she was a huge fan of tequila, but hadn't made much conversation with the blonde. She just kept a lean flow of shots coming the Arizona's way. Meredith and Amelia were really fun and outgoing and Arizona had learned a lot about the two and their relationships with Derek and Owen. She learned that the romantic holiday Owen and Amelia had taken during summer hiatus had originally been Callie and Mark's. But because of their separation the couple decided to give the tickets to the ginger haired man and his girlfriend. And it had been the time of Amelia's life. Apparently the Latina and her then husband had spared no expenses in creating the perfect romantic getaway.

Arizona was feeling tipsy and very happy. She'd had to pinch herself more than once tonight to make sure she wasn't dreaming. That she was actually here. The blonde decided to go look for Callie. It had been a while since she'd seen the brunette and Arizona wanted the Latina to be part of her perfect night. When Arizona announced that she would hang out with the tequila group Callie made a face and excused herself stating she had bad experiences with that particular liquor.

The blonde spotted Mark standing and talking to Derek and Addison in the middle of the room. She hurried over to the trio and threw her arms around Marks neck as she hugged him from the side "Well hello to you too Az. Feeling the alcohol are we?" Mark asked with a grin as he looked at the woman next to him.

"Oh please. I can hold my liquor very well, thank you. I'm just a bit tipsy that's all. And I'm in a really good mood. This evening is spectacular and I love it. This cast and crew are fun. Even the stuck up male board members from the production company are fun." The blonde stated as she turned her attention to the other two people standing there. Derek just smiled at her and Addison raised one of her eyebrows at Mark as she looked at the way Arizona had her arms thrown around the man.

Arizona eased out of the sideways hug with Mark. "Have any of you seen Callie? I actually thought she might be with you Addison."

Addison smiled at Arizona. "I talked briefly with her half an hour or so ago. She was hanging out with Nathan and Andrew at the time. And April was trying really hard to get Callie to do some disgusting strawberry shots with her."

"Great, thank you" the blonde commented. "What about Teddy. Do you know where she is?" The blonde noticed a flash of sadness shoot across the grey-blue eyes of her boss before she answered.

"No. Last time I saw her she was at the bar with Miranda and Jackson ordering everything they had on the drinks card. But that was hours ago." Addison said while shaking her head.

Arizona smiled at the three before excusing herself to go on the lookout for her Latina friend. She saw Nathan and Andrew standing against one of the walls in deep conversation. But when she strode up to them their conversation came to a sudden halt. "Oh sorry guys, I didn't mean to interrupt" Arizona apologized. "I am just looking for Callie. Do you know where she is?" the blonde send a bright smile at her two colleagues.

"Hey Arizona. It's perfectly fine. And she stepped out ten minutes ago. April kept bringing her some milkshake-like shots and I think she needed a break" Andrew said while he made a gagging noise at the mentioning of the shots.

Arizona laughed at the younger man before once again excusing herself. She went to the door and made it out to the big shielded outdoor area. Various smokers were taking up some of the space and Arizona couldn't see Callie at first. But looking closer she spotted the Latina leaning up against the fence furthest away while scrolling through something on her phone. Her eyes were on the device and it made her long brown curly hair fall slightly in front of her face. The way she stood made her legs flex and Arizona could tell that while the brunette wasn't toned like herself she didn't lack any muscle strength. Arizona could certainly tell when another woman was hot. And the Latina was definitely hot as hell. She understood why the brunette had ended in the top five of the sexiest women alive for the past three years.

Making her way towards the brunette Arizona cleared her throat. This made the Latina look up and a smile took over her face. "Hey you. I was wondering if maybe the tequila-trio had succeeded in making you pass out somewhere" the brunette said as she put her phone in her purse.

Arizona stopped in front of Callie and smiled back. "No way could they ever succeed in that. But they gave it a nice try. How are you holding up – rumor has it that April forced some really disgusting shots down your throat" the blonde made a yikes face that caused Callie to laugh.

"Yes she was quite persistent. But they weren't really that bad, I just had to take a break from it all. Get some air. What brings you out here?" the brunette asked the shorter woman,

"I was looking for you actually. I missed my 'Heart and Hospital' BFF in there" Arizona shyly stated.

Callie let out a chuckle at the blonde's definition of her. "Well you found me" the brunette deadpanned as she eyed the woman. In her slightly tipsy state she couldn't help but let her eyes wander the length of Arizona's body.

The blonde saw the change in the other woman's eyes and watched as the brunette's eyes raked her body. "Are you okay Callie? I've noticed you've looked at me with this weird face a couple of times these past few days and you're doing it again right now."

Callie blushed when she realized that she had been caught. She took in a deep breath. So much for tonight not being the night to worry about it. 'Here goes nothing' the brunette thought to herself. "Okay, so I need to tell you something and I really hope you won't freak out. But if you don't want to hang out with me for a while after then that's okay. I'll understand."

The blonde watched as the brunette struggled with herself. She knit together her eyebrows in confusion to what the Latina could possibly tell her that would make Arizona want a break from the kind and caring woman standing in front of her.

Callie looked at Arizona when she continued. "So I'm sure you remember I was there for you and Mark's scene at the beginning of this week. You know your first semi-nude shooting." Arizona smiled at Callie at the memory. She was still very grateful that the Latina had gotten up early to support her. The smile encouraged Callie to continue "and please believe me when I tell you that you are amazingly gorgeous Arizona. In fact you are so gorgeous that I haven't really been able to get your perfect body out of my mind." Callie glanced at Arizona for any form of reaction, but the blonde kept a straight face and a smile that pushed the Latina to keep going.

"And it's not like I'm going to jump your bones or anything but I think I might be slightly attracted to your physique. I don't know what the hell is going on. I've never ever been even remotely attracted to another woman's body before and I'm sorry. It's just been weighing down on me because I believe we're so close that I need to be honest with you to make our friendship work. If you want to go back inside and process, then that's okay." Callie let out a puff of air as she finished her monologue.

Arizona just stood there for a second as she watched the dejected and slightly embarrassed look on her friends face. And then she burst out laughing. Callie furrowed her brows in confusion at the blonde's reaction.

"Jesus Callie. That's it? You had me really worried there. You checked me out and found me hot, so what? Not ten minutes ago I was standing over there" Arizona pointed over her shoulder "ogling you and thinking you were one hot specimen of the human being. That doesn't mean anything. I'm glad you find me attractive because that means other people might find me attractive as well. It's flattering actually. Please don't worry about it or make it something it isn't." The blonde smiled reassuringly at the Latina. "Are you in love with me? And let me just say, that if you are, then that's not going to change anything in our friendship" the blonde added.

"God no." Callie let out immediately. "No Arizona. You are an amazing woman, and I really appreciate you as a friend, but no I'm not in love with you." The brunette shook her head. "And you think I'm hot?" Callie scrunched her face in confusion.

Arizona chuckled at the confused expression on the Latina's face. "Are you kidding me? Of course I think you're hot. And I know for a fact, that I'm not the only one. You've got ass and hips and boobs and it just all comes together in this really perfect way. I'm very jealous. No amount of training or lack of training will ever make me look like you. You should embrace it every day."

Callie sent a grateful smile Arizona's way and pulled her friend in for a hug. "Thank you Arizona. And you really shouldn't be jealous of me, when you look like you do" the brunette finished.

Arizona smiled into Callie's shoulder before easing out of the hug and grabbing the Latina by the arm dragging her to the door. "Thank you Callie. And please come and talk to me next time. Don't let it linger like this, because your mind clearly isn't built for that." The blonde and the brunette both chuckled before Arizona continued as she held the door open for the Latina. "Alright hot stuff. Let's go back inside and enjoy this party while we're here. This night is amazing and I really want to share it with you and create a lot of crazy memories together." Arizona winked at Callie when she passed her and followed the brunette inside for a night of fun.

 **Here you have it: chapter 6!**

 **I really hope you liked it and please let me know what you think about it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	7. Chapter 7

**HOREFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **I hope you're ready for chapter 7.**

 **First off: to the guest who felt the need to rudely insult me personally and my story: Not that my sexuality is important to this story, but no I am not a straight girl, so you might want to choose another tactic and insult next time. And this is my universe – hence the AU-label at the front of the summary - if you don't like it, then don't read it. Nobody is forcing you. And for the record, I don't think Mark is nor was a douche. I think Mark's character helped balance out and expand the stories and debates on Grey's – like the rest of the characters do. Then you can agree with his way of life or not. How boring would Grey's Anatomy be if all the characters had the same personality traits?**

 **To the rest of you: I LOVE YOU! Thank you so much. I'm so grateful to all of you who take the time to read, follow, favorite and review my story. It's awesome, and it really inspires me. I just want to write all day every day ;)**

 **Also this chapter will provide some answers/clearance to the whole Arizona/Mark thing! I'm not writing this thing under the pretense of doing a Calzona fanfic to coax all of you to read an Arizona/Mark fanfic. This WILL be a Calzona fanfic – trust me. But it will also be a slow burn like I warned you about in the first chapter. But we are getting closer to our favorite women finding each other with every passing chapter.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Anyway – enough of my rambling. Here's chapter 7 for you. Enjoy it and enjoy your weekend! Summer has arrived here in The North and I soak up as much sun as I can…Summer is THE BEST.**

 **Happy reading!**

CHAPTER 7:

Ten days went by since the season premier party. The first episode had aired and all the critics had been very fond of Arizona's character, Dr. Porter. The fans had embraced her as well and the blonde couldn't be happier.

Tonight Arizona was enjoying a night at her apartment with Callie and some wine. Their weekly coffee-date had been impossible due to conflicting schedules, so the two of them decided that a glass of wine in a relaxing environment to end the week and catch up was perfect. It was the first time that Callie had been to Arizona's place and apart from Teddy, who'd been there for girls' night during the week; the Latina was the only other person to have visited the blonde.

"…it's the first time I've ever seen Miranda drunk. It was epic. How Jackson and Teddy managed that I'll never know. But I feel bad for April though. It did not look pleasant to throw up those strawberry shots" Callie laughed. The two of them were discussing the shenanigans of their colleagues at the season premier party.

Arizona laughed. "It sure didn't. But I'm sure she liked how Jackson helped her and held back her hair."

"Yeah. I'm not sure complimenting her beauty while she threw up was the way to go, though. Not even sure she remembered it afterwards" the brunette chuckled in reply.

Arizona looked at Callie intensely. The Latina could tell something was on the blonde's mind. "Okay, what are you thinking?"

The blonde lowered her eyes to her wineglass as she twirled the white wine around. "Nothing."

Callie raised a knowing eyebrow at Arizona. "Out with it Arizona."

Arizona looked at Callie. "It's nothing really. I was just thinking that Jackson wasn't the only guy that spent time on praising beauty that night. Nathan was telling you every chance he got how stunning you looked, and I was just wondering what that was all about?" Arizona asked as she took a sip from her glass.

"There's nothing going on between Nathan and me if that's what you're implying, Arizona" Callie stated a bit harshly and with a bit of hurt in her voice. "I just separated Mark. We haven't even signed the divorce papers yet. I don't just jump from one bed to another, you know! I'm actually trying to figure my life out. Find out what I want."

Arizona shook her head. "I'm sorry Callie. I wasn't implying that you're sleeping with Nathan or anything. I just think he really likes you. I'm not saying you should pursue it only because he's nice to you. But if you like him, then just know that he's definitely interested."

Callie looked straight ahead at the turned off TV. "I'm not ready for anything like that. I can't think of being with anyone but Mark just yet. He's the only one of us who's reached a state where being with anyone else is a possibility. And now I have to spend my energy trying to deal with that as well" the brunette softly stated.

"Mark's moved on? With whom?" the blonde asked. She was surprised to hear that Mark was possibly already seeing someone else.

The Latina fixed her gaze on Arizona's. "Well, with you Arizona." The blonde recoiled at the brunette's words and Callie could tell that Arizona was about to protest, so the Latina kept talking before she was interrupted. "I mean I know that nothing has happened between you yet or anything. But he gets this look when he looks at you. He finds you attractive and intriguing and he wants to know more. He likes you. I mean I can't blame him, because you're pretty great, but it's just weird. Because you're my friend. Probably my closest friend actually. And he is my ex-husband. And it freaks me out. Combined the two of you know everything about me and it feels really weird, and slightly disturbing, to think about you two together…intimately" the brunette said with a vulnerability that surprised Arizona.

The blonde reached out and took one of Callie's hands. "Honestly Callie I think you're misunderstanding. I don't think Mark is moving on. But you guys were the center of each other's lives for a decade. Best friends who shared everything. And now all that is taken away. He doesn't have that closeness with anyone anymore. And I just kind of dumped down onto his lap as his new on-screen partner. We spend a lot of time together because we have so many scenes with each other and we luckily hit it off really well. I think he just really misses having you as a best friend who he shared everything with. And I think he's trying to fill that void with me" Arizona finished.

She could immediately tell that Callie still doubted it. "Callie, please listen to me. Mark and I are friends. That's it. Sure he is hooooot" this got her a giggle from the brunette "but nothing is going on between him and me."

Callie could see the sincerity in Arizona's eyes and it put her mind a bit at ease. "Okay. I believe you". The brunette smiled and Arizona removed her hand from the Latina's and leaned back. "So have you talked to Teddy recently" the brunette asked to change the subject to something else.

Arizona sighed "Yes. She was here the other night for a girls' night." The blonde downed the rest of her wine and reached for the bottle. "She is a mess. She's afraid to talk to Addison because she doesn't want her to agree to something she doesn't really want, just to make Teddy happy and to make her stay with her. And Teddy really wants kids. But at the same time she kind of only want kids with Addison. She doesn't want a life without Addison. She's really confused"

Callie filled her wineglass as well. "Yeah I know. I told Addison that she needed to consider what she wants too. If she doesn't want kids because of the intensity of her job right now or if she doesn't want kids period."

"That's good advice. I just hope she comes to some sort of conclusion before Teddy makes up her mind. I feel quite certain that she'll leave Addison actually. She just needs to collect the courage to do so. She wants Addison to be happy and Teddy's convinced that Addison will have a better shot at being truly happy without her pestering her about kids every other month" Arizona stated.

Callie looked at Arizona and realized that the two of them had never really talked about their own wishes regarding kids. "What about you? Do you want kids?" the brunette questioned.

Arizona was slightly surprised at the change of focus in the conversation. "I don't really know. I don't think I've ever been so secure in a relationship that I really considered it" the blonde answered truthfully. "But yeah somehow I see myself having kids in the future. What about you? Did you and Mark ever consider it?"

"Oh yeah. We were planning to have a baby right before I got offered my latest movie role. And then we kind of tabled it and never really got to it when I finished the movie. Actually the holiday Owen and Amelia went on was originally a gift from me to Mark. I figured we could use some R&R and maybe pick up the whole children thing were we left off. Try to start a family together. But then life happened and the whole thing hit me like a brick wall. I think it's quite hard to start a family, when you have to think about your career as well. I mean, I felt like I should say yes to the movie to make the best of the demand for me at the time, and then a family could wait. But maybe if I hadn't done the movie I would have a husband and a baby right now, you know." Callie said with moisture in her eyes.

"You'll find someone else, Callie. You and Mark weren't meant to be. You met so you could both help each other become what you are and get where you are today. But he is not the one you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with. Just wait and see. Someone will turn up and sweep you of your feet. And then the choice between family and career will suddenly be an easy one" the blonde stated with a sympathetic smile.

Callie chuckled a little at that. "You really believe that?"

Arizona trained her ocean blue eyes on Callie's chocolate brown ones and said with sincerity. "Of course I do. You are amazing and anyone will be lucky to have you. And when that someone comes along, every other love you've had so far will pale in comparison."

Callie smiled at Arizona. "I really hope you're right. I can't wait for both our someones to come along."

The duo and their heavy conversation were interrupted by the doorbell ringing out through the blonde's apartment. Callie looked at Arizona with a questioning look and the blonde just shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea who that could be. Going to the door and looking through the peep hole, the blonde's heart sank and she opened the door to let in a miserable looking Teddy.

"Teddy, what are you doing here?" the blonde asked as she ushered her friend inside. Teddy put down her overnight bag at the floor and looked at Arizona with red, puffy eyes. Tears were silently streaming down the honey-blonde woman's face.

"I left Addison, and I didn't know where to go. I just…" Teddy caught sight of Callie sitting on the couch "I'm sorry I should've called. I can go to a hotel or to Miranda's or something." She started picking up her bag again, but Arizona stopped her.

"Of course you're not going to a hotel in this state. You can have the guest bedroom. And you can stay for as long as you need." Arizona looked at Callie who nodded her head and stood up "Besides Callie was just about to leave anyway."

Callie came over to Teddy and put a hand on her shoulder "I'm so sorry Teddy. I really rooted for you guys. And I tried telling her to get her head out of her ass."

"Thank you Callie. But we want different things and it just seems that we can't find a way to combine them in any way" Teddy answered with an obvious crack to her voice. "You should go check on her. When I left she was…not good." With that the honey-blonde made her way to the couch.

Arizona watched the retreating form before turning her attention to Callie. "Tonight was fun. Sorry it got cut short." The blonde smiled at the brunette.

"It was really fun. Maybe coffee should be replaced with wine more often" Callie smiled back at Arizona while she put on her boots and jacket before looking at Teddy sitting at the couch with her legs pulled to her chest. "Take good care of her Arizona."

The blonde nodded and opened the door for Callie "I will. And you take good care of Addison. Text me how she is, will you?" Arizona asked.

"Sure." Just as Callie made her way through the door her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller-ID and glanced at Arizona before answering "Hey Ads...No you're not interrupting anything…yeah I know. I'm so sorry…I'm at Arizona's and she came here…I'm on my way right now…" the brunette waved at Arizona and continued to talk to Addison while she made her way down the hall.

* * *

It had been five days since a miserable Teddy had showed up at Arizona's door interrupting wine-night. Callie had gone directly to Addison and Teddy's apartment and had found the red head completely dissolved by tears. Addison had sobbed and cried loudly into Callie's shoulder and chest for the better part of four hours. The brunette had no idea what to do to help her friend who was convinced that life wasn't worth it without the honey-blonde woman by her side.

When the tears had subsided Addison had gone completely mute, which in turn made the brunette feel even more useless than when the red head was crying her eyes out. Addison had spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch staring off into space. Callie had tried multiple times to get the red head to go to bed, but Addison hadn't moved an inch or even acknowledged that the brunette was talking to her. Callie sat in the chair by the couch the entire night, keeping a hand on the red head's shoulder nonstop to let her know she was there if Addison needed her. By morning Addison had started talking a little bit again, but Callie had to go into work. She had a full day of shooting and calling in sick wasn't really an option. The brunette had been reluctant at leaving the red head alone but Addison had assured the brunette that she was as okay as could be expected, but that she was going to stay home because she just needed some time alone to deal with her broken heart.

Callie had made sure to keep in frequent contact with her friend via texts and phone calls these last five days. The red head had refused to let Callie visit again saying that she was fine on her own and that she adapted better to the situation alone. Addison still hadn't come back to work and the cast and crew were very surprised by it. For the past four years Addison didn't call in sick once but now she'd been AWOL for five days. Last night the second episode of the season had aired and not even the weekly pep talk and praising of the hardworking employees via email had come from their boss.

Today was the table read for the 6th episode of the season. Callie sat at her chair going through her Twitter feed when Arizona and Teddy entered the conference room. Teddy looked horrible and the brunette was sure that the rest of the 'Heart and Hospital' family knew without a doubt that the absence of their boss had everything to do with the miserable Teddy.

Arizona gave Teddy's shoulder a squeeze when the honey-blonde woman sat down and walked to her own chair next to Callie.

"Good morning. How is she?" Callie asked Arizona as she slided a latté towards the blonde.

Arizona smiled in gratitude at the Latina and took a sip of the hot beverage. Due to a heartbroken Teddy camping out in Arizona's guest room there hadn't been much time for hanging out with the Latina. "She's not good. Addison had been texting and calling her nonstop, but then yesterday she just stopped. Just like that. And Teddy's afraid that Addison already forgot about her. Which is ridiculous, because it's only been five days. What about Addison? She's still not letting anyone come see her?"

Callie played with the sleeve of her own to-go coffee. "Nope. And I'm really only a couple of days from going over there and busting in her door. She should have someone there with her. She texted last night that she had put some of Teddy's clothes in a suitcase and that it all seemed so unreal to her" the brunette told the blonde, who just sighed in reply.

Everyone was prepared for one of the producers to take the lead on the table read, but they just sat there chatting away even though the entire cast was already present. A few minutes later however the door opened and Addison entered. The surprised cast all followed their boss with their eyes as she made her way to the head of the table for her seat. Addison Montgomery was normally a sight to behold. She was always perfectly put together with a business outfit, the perfect amount of make-up that highlighted her every feature and her hair done one way or the other.

Today however, Callie watched as her friend stood by her chair in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. No trace of make-up was found on her face that bear witness to the many hours of crying the red head obviously continued to do. Her hair was thrown on top of her head in a messy bun and Callie doubted it had been washed for the last four days.

"Good morning everyone" Addison started as she looked at her cast. "I'm sorry, that I've been missing for the last days without notifying you, but I needed some personal days" the red head said as tears started to gather in her eyes. "I apologize for that. I'm going to be here all day today, but then I'm officially taking some time off. I haven't decided how long yet but my phone will be on at all times so please don't hesitate to call me. I'm leaving you here in the very capable hands of Peter and Brittany, and I'm sure they'll do such a good job being in charge that you'll soon all be wondering if I'm really needed here" Addison tried with a joke, but her feelings betrayed her and a single tear made its way down her cheek.

"I can't really get into my reasons for taking time off right now, other than they're personal and obviously not positive, but I hope you all know that I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't absolutely necessary. You deserve a boss that's fully here and that is eager and thrilled at the thought of going to work every day and right now that just isn't me." Addison wiped away another tear that spilled from her eyes. "But I promise you that I'll be back before you know it, I just have to deal with some things. And now let's get on with it. Peter you're in charge today" the red head finished as she took her seat.

Arizona chanced a look at her honey-blonde friend seated across from her. The last five days had been really hard on Teddy and Arizona didn't know how to help her. This was the first time Teddy saw Addison since leaving her and Arizona knew it was bound to be tough on Teddy. She wished she could be there for her friend. She could tell that a few tears had already spilled from Teddy's eyes as well and that Miranda and Cristina on each of her sides didn't really know how to handle it. She caught Cristina's gaze, and within seconds the Asian woman rose from her seat and made her way to the other side of the table.

The entire cast watched as Cristina stepped up next to Arizona and gestured for her to get out of her seat. Arizona smiled in gratitude and made her way to Teddy. When she passed Addison she made eye contact with the woman who mouthed a thank you to the blonde. She sat down and put her arm on the small of Teddy's back. She heard the blonde woman take in and let out a deep breath before giving Arizona a small smile.

At that the table read began. Addison kept her eyes down the entire time and didn't make one comment. Peter really took the reins and scribbled a lot of things down as the table read progressed. When the table read ended Addison immediately got out of her chair and made her way towards the exit. She paused momentarily behind Teddy's chair but soon continued to the door.

Callie caught the red head's gaze before she slipped out of the room. The brunette made a mental note to pay Addison a visit at her office later. She looked at Arizona and Teddy who sat in a hushed conversation.

"I'm going to go to my trailer for a minute" Teddy said to Arizona as she began to get up from her chair.

The blonde looked at her friend with sympathy. "Do you want me to come with you?"

The honey-blonde shook her head "No I just want to be alone. Thank you though"

Arizona got up as well and was about to go to Callie when Mark intercepted her. "Hey Arizona. Did Peter tell you about yesterday's and last week's numbers on the fan focus-group?"

Arizona shook her head and Mark continued. "Polls showed that they really liked our characters together. We're actually the second most liked couple after yesterday's episode only beaten by the POWER couple. Which is really something because you only just got here" the man beamed.

"Wow. That's great Mark. Guess all of our hard work paid off," the blonde smiled at Mark.

"Yeah. We should totally celebrate. Maybe do dinner or something. Tonight maybe?" the man proposed.

Arizona smiled at him. "I'm in. I'm done at six and let's just take it from there?" With a nod from the man Arizona made her way to Callie.

The brunette looked from Arizona to Mark as the blonde reached her. "What was that all about?"

"Oh Mark just wanted to tell me, that we're the second most popular couple with the fan focus group. They named us CARESS or something equally ridiculous. Sorry for stealing your shine" Arizona winked at Callie.

The brunette snorted. "Don't be sorry for me. I've broken up with Alex to focus on my career, remember. I'm not part of any couple any more" Callie told the blonde with a serious yet playful face.

Arizona knew she should tell Callie about her dinner with Mark, but somehow the words didn't seem to want to leave her mouth.

"Are you going to go talk to Addison?" Arizona asked effectively changing the subject.

Callie stood from her chair and the duo made their way to the door. "Yes. As soon as I have a break I'm going to go see her. How's your schedule? Lunch later?"

"You know it. Meet me in the cafeteria at one o'clock" Arizona smiled at Callie making a mental note to tell the Latina about her dinner with Mark when they went for lunch. Then Arizona headed to wardrobe while Callie made her way to make-up.

* * *

Callie's day had been unnecessarily busy. She'd had to cancel lunch with Arizona because she and Nathan just couldn't get it right in one of their scenes. The director was about ready to kill one of them when the two actors finally found their footing. Nathan had once again complimented Callie in any way he could and after her conversation with Arizona five days prior the brunette had started to notice it every single time.

Callie knew she should be flattered, but she really wasn't. Nathan was nice but nothing about him made the Latina feel any kind of butterflies or tingling anywhere. Not even the thought of Mark had made those feelings arise in Callie the last few days. And that both soothed and worried her. Sure it felt good that she might be over Mark somehow, but she also feared that she had somehow died inside when nothing about two good looking guys made her feel some sort of warmth. Not even when one of said guys complimented her every chance he got.

Now she was on her way to Addison's office. Callie had asked around and it seemed that very few people had built up the courage to go see their boss in the state she was in. Callie knocked twice before hearing the telltale voice of the red head telling her to come in.

Addison sat at her desk with her head resting in one of her hands while she looked at some papers. She looked up at Callie as she opened the door.

"Hey Ads. Am I interrupting something?" Callie asked as she paused in the doorway.

"Not at all. I'm just sitting here pretending to work. Please come in and interrupt me!" Addison smiled at Callie.

Callie sat down in the chair opposite of Addison and took in her friend. She looked exhausted, but it seemed like she'd held her tears at bay during the day. Her face was no longer as swollen and red as it was at the table read. "How are you doing?" the brunette asked.

Addison shrugged. "Okay I guess. Seeing her was tough. She didn't look good. And I feel kind of bad because that made me feel a little good, you know. That I'm not the only one who's absolutely miserable."

Callie gave her friend a compassionate smile. "I know the feeling. And don't feel bad about it."

"I just want to stop loving her. Like right now. Because then everything would be alright. I can't even express how utterly broken I'm feeling right now and I just want it to stop. But I don't know how Callie" the red head softly said as tears rose in her eyes.

The brunette reached across the table and grabbed the red head's hand in sympathy. "Do you really not want those kids Addison. Because you have every chance at winning her back. I don't think she has to have a kid tomorrow I just think she would like to sometime in the future. But you can talk to her about it. You guys can find a way to make it work."

"I DO want kids with her Callie. That's the thing. I want everything with her. And I want to give her everything. But our communication about the whole thing just went off the wrong track from the beginning and then, when I was about to tell her that I really want to have little Teddy's running around everywhere sometime in the future, she left me. And she hasn't returned any of my texts or calls. She is done with me. And it breaks my heart that I was an idiot and didn't talk to her sooner. But I brought it on myself I guess." Addison said as she used her free hand to wipe at her tears.

Callie got up from the chair. "I have to go back to shooting Ads. But find a way to talk to her. Because basically you want the same thing and it makes no sense that the two of you should be this miserable apart when you can be happy together." The brunette made her way around the table, reached down and engulfed Addison in a tight hug. "Call me later if you need to talk. Or better yet, come by later. Or I'll stop by your place."

Addison shook her head. "No, that's not necessary. I'll be fine. But I'll definitely call you later tonight, because I have to hear everything about you and Nathan. Rumor has it that he really has the hots for you. I might be heartbroken but I'm still very much interested in what's going on with you life." The red head smiled at Callie as the brunette made her way out of the office with a growl.

* * *

Arizona and Mark were seated in a booth in a high end diner-styled restaurant. They had decided to go somewhere kind of casual. That way none of them had to go home and change into fancy clothes and they could just go directly from the studio.

The blonde had ordered the biggest burger they had on the menu much to Marks amusement. When the waitress arrived with their milkshakes, Mark raised his Oreo-shake to cling against Arizona's strawberry-shake. "To a beautiful on-screen relationship" the man smiled at Arizona.

Arizona smiled back. "And a beautiful off-screen friendship."

Mark looked at her for a second before asking her with seriousness in his voice "You really think of me as a friend?"

Arizona sighed. Her conversation with Callie about Mark's actions towards her had really thrown her off and she had started taking notice of the man's flirtatious ways. "Listen Mark. It's been brought to my attention, that you might think of me as more than a friend and I…"

Mark held up his hand as he interrupted the blonde. "Woah, I'm going to stop you right there. First of all: Who told you that? And second of all: I didn't ask you that because I hoped you saw me as more than a friend. I only asked because I consider YOU a friend. And I hope it goes the other way around as well" he smiled at the blonde who started to look a little embarrassed.

Arizona felt her cheeks heat up. She was slightly mortified at jumping to the wrong conclusion. But at the same time she felt relieved. "Well it was Callie actually…"

Once again Mark interrupted the blonde "CALLIE! What makes her think that?" the man let out surprised.

"Well she said that you gave me some sort of look. That you find me attractive. And want to get to know me. And you are kind of flirting with me A LOT. But she only voiced it because she was defeated by the idea of you moving on with me. And let me just start by saying, that I'm not really attracted to you in that way, but I would never be able to be with you even if I was. I couldn't do that to her. She's my best friend." Arizona sighed "even though I'm kind of a shitty friend to her right now because she actually doesn't even know that I'm here with you tonight. I think I didn't tell her because I was afraid she would freak out and jump to all sorts of conclusions." Arizona looked directly at Mark as she spoke.

Mark gave a small chuckle. "I'll talk to her and tell her that you and I are just friends. I promise. But she is 100% correct. I DO find you attractive. But only because I'm a guy. And human. Yes I flirt with you, but that's just the way I am. Callie knows that. I flirt with Addison too for Christ sake and she is as gay as they come. That doesn't mean anything. And I DO want to get to know you better. But only because I have a feeling that you could be a very good friend to me. And I could really use a good friend. " Mark said the last part in a hushed voice as he twirled his straw around in his shake.

The blonde smiled at the man sitting across from her. "I'm really glad. Because I really like your company. I would love to be friends with you and you lucked out because I'm an awesome friend by the way." Arizona joined Mark as he laughed at that comment.

Mark looked at Arizona and for the first time ever while being alone with him the blonde saw some sort of vulnerability in his features. "I feel like I have no one right now Arizona. It seems everyone sided with Callie because she was the one left heartbroken. But just because I left her doesn't mean that I wasn't heartbroken as well. Derek and I are supposed to be best friends but he's just not there for me. I don't know if its Meredith's doing." Mark shook his head to get back on track "I'm just really confused. And I have nobody to talk to. It's killing me. Somehow I'm the bad guy, but why is that? Should I have stayed with her just for the convenience of it? I just couldn't Arizona. I couldn't stay feeling like that. She deserves better than that. She was, well IS, perfect but suddenly she just wasn't enough for me and I had all these conflicting feelings…"

This time it was the blonde who cut Mark off. "Hold up. As much as I would love to help you with this Mark, I can't" Arizona gave the man a small sympathetic smile. "You and I are friends. I consider us close friends I want you to know that. I wouldn't have gotten through these first months and scenes without you by my side. But she is my BEST friend. In a very short time she's become the person who knows me best, the person I turn too, so I can't do this. I can't talk to you about her and your marriage."

Mark sighed and took a sip of his shake. "I know. I'm sorry." The man smiled at Arizona "we'll talk about something else. I heard Jackson tried hitting on April while she puked her guts out?"

Arizona laughed as Mark made a face at the thought of it. Soon their burgers were served and the two of them continued to talk and get to know each other better while they ate.

As the dinner came to an end they stood outside of the diner. "Thank you Mark. I had so much fun tonight. We should really do this again some time" Arizona said.

Mark gave her a bright smile "Yeah me too, blondie. And we will most definitely be doing this again some other time. And if I ever meet that ex-boyfriend of yours I'm going to tell him the prober way to have sex in somebody's garden."

The blonde laughed and pulled Mark in for a hug. "You better not. He'll flip if he finds out I'm telling all the stars of the show about that." When she released him she reached out and took one of his hands. "And I'm really sorry I couldn't be the one to listen to you. Talk to Derek, Mark. I'm sure he's just been busy. Callie would never do anything to keep your friends from you. I don't need to tell you that she's not that kind of person. But if you need to talk about anything other than her and your marriage, then I'm your gal".

Mark chuckled and pulled the blonde in for one more hug and placed a kiss on top of her head. "Thank you Arizona. I'll see you." The man released Arizona and gave a small wave as they each made their way to their car.

* * *

Almost a week had passed since Addison had last been to the studio and Arizona had gone out to dinner with Mark. Teddy was still living with Arizona and she was still a mess. She didn't really eat which worried the blonde a lot. Arizona had scenes with Teddy today and she was currently keeping an eye on the other woman as she was talking to Mark and Miranda that were also in this particular scene. The blonde was startled from her spying as the door was ripped open and a raging Latina entered.

Arizona furrowed her eyebrows in worry before sending the brunette a smile. The Latina did not smile back, if anything she looked even more raging when Arizona smiled and the blonde got very confused at that observation. "Callie, what…"

Arizona didn't get to finish though. Before she knew it the Latina was in her face and it became clear to the blonde that the rage was aimed at her. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING! What the hell Arizona?! I thought we were friends! I trusted you. But it turns out you're nothing but a backstabbing BITCH!" Callie finished as she slammed a magazine down on the counter.

"Callie, I have no id…" Arizona started to talk as she felt the anger rising within her at the brunette's harsh utterances, but the words died in her mouth and the anger disappeared instantly when she looked at the cover of the magazine. There she was outside the diner in a very heartfelt hug with Mark as he was placing a kiss on top of her head and the headline read 'Is our new favorite on-screen couple taking their CARESSes and relationship off-screen as well?' Arizona felt all color drain from her face in that moment and looked at the furious Latina who now had tears in her eyes. "Tell me again, that nothing is going on between the two of you…"

 **That's it for chapter 7. I tried something a little different this time and ended it with some sort of cliffhanger. The next chapter will pick up where this left off.**

 **I hope you all liked this chapter. Looking forward to hearing what you thought of it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	8. Chapter 8

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys! :)**

 **Chapter 8 is here! I decided to upload it today, as I will be too busy to do it both sunday and monday, and I didn't want to lave you hanging til tuesday with the cliffhanger from chapter 7.**

 **Thank you for your lovely reviews and words of encouragement. Even 7 chapters in, they still mean the world to me.**

 **Anyway I'm not going to bore you with a long intro for this chapter ;) I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading.**

CHAPTER 8:

Arizona shifted her focus from the Latina to the magazine cover and back again while she opened and closed her mouth. She was sure she looked like a fish out of water. She saw Teddy, Miranda and Mark start to make their way over.

"Callie, please…" the blonde started but was cut off by her friend before she had the chance to finish.

"Don't Arizona. Just don't! You assured me that you and he were just friends. And stupidly I believed you. Then I woke up to this coverstory today! You LIED to me" Callie said while she looked at Arizona with a fire in her brown eyes that the blonde had never seen before. And she didn't like it.

"No. Callie please, I didn't lie to you. Nothing happened. We just…" but this time Arizona was cut off by Mark who'd reached the duo.

"What's going on Cal?" Mark asked with a gentle voice. The Latina didn't answer him but just picked up the magazine and threw it roughly at Mark.

The man's eyes almost bugged out of his head as he looked at the cover. Then he looked to Arizona and then to Callie "Fuck!"

The brunette chuckled hollowly "Yeah, you got that right!" Then Callie turned on her heal and marched towards the exit. Arizona had no idea how to make things right with her friend, but in that second she knew without a doubt that for now it would be best to just leave the fuming brunette alone. The blonde turned her attention to Mark.

"You promised me, you'd talk to her! When were you planning on doing that?" Arizona angrily spit at the man.

"Hey this is not on me. You were the one who chickened out and didn't tell her, that we were having dinner! It's been like a week or something it's not like you haven't had the chance to tell her multiple times" Mark said as he pointed his index finger at the blonde.

Arizona pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache coming fast. But before she could process any further, the director asked that the actors rounded up and prepared themselves to shoot again. They didn't even get the chance to start though, before the door to the set opened once again. This time a delivery man entered carrying the biggest and most beautiful bouquet of lavender calla lilies that Arizona had ever seen.

"Excuse me. I was told it was okay to enter. I'm looking for Teddy Altman. It was demanded I didn't leave the flowers with anyone but her" the man said as he looked straight at the honey-blonde already knowing that he found her.

Teddy made her way to the guy. She signed off for the flowers and took the bouquet from him.

Arizona, Mark and Miranda looked while the other woman carefully extracted a large card from the enormous amount of flowers. She put the bouquet down on a table off to the side and opened the card with a bit of shake to her hands. Arizona watched the tears gather and eventually slip from green eyes as Teddy made her way through the words on the card. She then closed the card and sniffled a little as she traced her fingers over the pedals on one of the flowers.

Arizona looked at Mark and Miranda who both signaled for her to go to their friend. "Teddy?" Arizona let out when she approached the honey-blonde. Teddy didn't answer but just held out the card for Arizona to take.

Arizona carefully opened the card. With very neat and very distinct handwriting stood:

 _Dear Teddy.  
The saying that you don't know what you have until its gone have never been truer to me.  
I miss you with every single breath I take, and my life will never be the same.  
I know calla lilies are your favorite flower and I find a sense of comfort, and dare I say hope, in knowing they symbolize the overcoming of challenges – and this has got to be the biggest challenge of my life so far. Living without you. I really hope that we'll find our way back to each other and overcome this challenge together rather than apart.  
Lavender calla lilies in particular symbolize grace and elegance and convey refined and feminine beauty to the recipient – and I'm certain that they've never met a better fit. Because you my love are the most beautiful woman to ever walk this planet. It doesn't matter if you're sick, just woken up, lounging around at home in your sweats or dressed to the nines in a gala gown – you are always the most gorgeous creature in this world to me and you are always all I see.  
I know I've messed this up, but I beg of you; please agree to meet with me. We can do dinner or meet at home or at the studio. Or I'll come to Arizona's place, I don't care. Just please say yes. Please talk to me, Teddy. I adore you!  
With love always, your Addi_

Arizona handed the card back to Teddy. "What are you going to do?"

Teddy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I mean we want different…"

The blonde had had enough of this day. Her anger was rising once again. First off she got angrier by the second at the Latina who didn't even give her a chance to explain but instantly jumped to the worst conclusion. And secondly she was sick and tired of listening to her friend's excuses. So she cut Teddy of mid-sentence.

"OH MY GOD! If you tell me one more time, that you want different things, then I'm going to strangle you. Have you even talked to her long enough to really establish that as a fact, Teddy? Because I have to say, that I think you are WRONG! And I think she's trying to prove that to you with those extremely beautiful flowers, these kind and loving words and the insane amount of texts and voicemails that you haven't even bothered to read or listen to. Talk to her and sort this mess out for Christ sake" the blonde fired at her friend who just stared back at her with wide eyes.

"Arizona what the hell?! Rude much?" Teddy spit back.

Arizona just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Put down the card and let's get this freaking scene over with."

* * *

Arizona had been hammering on the door to Callie's trailer for five minutes. She knew the brunette was in there because she'd seen her go in there herself.

"Open this door right now Callie Torres! You owe me that. Strolling on to the set like that accusing me of all sorts of things and calling me a bitch is NOT okay" the blonde shouted as she kept banging on the door.

"You ARE going to open this door and you are going to do it NOW. You need to let me explain. I get that you're mad but that does not excuse your behavior!" the blonde continued as her hand got a little numb from the continuous hammering.

Inside the trailer the still very angry Latina tried to ignore the tantrum that the blonde seemed to be throwing right outside her trailer while knocking incisively at the door.

Callie had to hand it to the blonde, she was persistent for sure. The banging on her door had been going on for fifteen minutes now, all the while Arizona continued to yell at Callie, what she thought of the brunette's behavior earlier. She continued to make it clear that she understood Callie was mad, but that she herself had every bit as much right to be mad as well with the stunt the Latina pulled on set previously that day. A statement Callie didn't agree with though.

Arizona had gone to dinner with Mark without telling her about it. That was so not okay. The brunette had JUST told Arizona all of her insecurities regarding the budding friendship or relationship or whatever was building between the blonde and Mark, and Arizona had just disregarded that and secretely gone out with Mark anyway. That hurt Callie more than she cared to admit.

But the more the Latina thought about it the more she discovered that it wasn't really the thought of Mark making a move on Arizona that bothered her. It was the thought of Arizona making a move on Mark. Callie had no idea what to do with that discovery. She supposed it meant that she was more hurt by her blonde friend betraying her than Mark potentially moving on. The mere thought of Arizona leaning in with her pink lips to plant them on Marks, made the brunettes stomach turn and she felt like she was about to throw up. Callie knew the thought was irrational because if the two of them had kissed, then surely THAT would have been on the cover of the magazine. But the brunette couldn't help but doubt it anyway. What if the photographer just didn't catch that moment?

Arizona stopped her intensive knocking at last and placed her palm flat against the door. This time the shouting was replaced with a soft voice. "Please open the door Callie. I…" the blonde sighed "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about dinner with Mark. I should have, and you have every right to feel hurt. But I wasn't trying to hide anything from you. Actually I would have told you at lunch last Friday, but then you cancelled. But that's not the point. The point is that I'm truly sorry Callie. I swear that nothing is going on between me and Mark. Even if I was attracted to him, which I'm not by the way, then I would NEVER do that to you. I really treasure our friendship and you are SO important to me. Please believe me. I'm going to leave you alone now. But please call or text me. Please." Arizona confessed defeat and turned around to leave.

When she did that, she was met with what seemed to be a slightly amused Addison. A spark seemed to be back in the red heads eyes and the blonde had a feeling that Teddy might have listened to her slightly offensive ranting earlier. "Addison! Hi. I didn't even know you were at the studio today" Arizona smiled.

"I wasn't. But Teddy called me and asked me to meet her at her trailer. Thank you by the way. She mentioned that you've kind of scolded her today." Addison smiled at the blonde.

The smile faded however when Arizona directed her frustration at Addison. The blonde's feelings were all over the place. "Don't thank me. You two are ridiculous. How hard can it be to just get it together and talk it out! It seems that everyone's favorite way to deal with things around here is to just clamb up and hope that the rest of us are mind readers. Jesus Christ it's like kinder garden and you and Teddy set THE worst example ever. Don't thank me for scolding her because that will only get me started on you and trust me, you don't want that!" Arizona stated with a glare at Addison.

"Woah Arizona, calm down. I'm sorry if I said anything wrong. I just wanted you to know that I'm grateful. And believe me I KNOW that both Teddy and I handled this very wrong. And I'm sorry. Because it affected my work not even two weeks after I stood in front of the entire press corps promising that my relationship with Teddy wouldn't have consequences for my work or the employees on this show. And I owe all of you a huge apology for that. But I have a feeling that your frustration isn't centered on me and Teddy" Addison deadpanned as she looked past Arizona and at the door of the trailer of one Callie Torres.

"What's happening here? Why were you talking to Callie's door and not Callie?" the red head asked.

Arizona sighed and looked at the ground. "I was an idiot. I went to dinner with Mark, just dinner not a date or anything, without telling her, and Mark and I ended up on the front cover of 'Gossip' while hugging outside the restaurant. And now Callie is very rightfully pissed. But I think that I have the right to be kind of pissed too, because she marched right on to the set and called me a backstabbing bitch and whatnot without even hearing my side of the story. Which she STILL refuses to hear by the way hence me standing here and trying to break down her door with my fist" the blonde finished and looked back up at Addison "Maybe you'll have more luck with getting her to open up."

"Oh I wasn't coming to talk to her. But I could hear you shouting from across the trailer park and I had to see what it was all about. Can't have my stars going crazy on set" Addison chuckled. "But now that I know you're not too crazy, I'm going to go talk to Teddy. Good luck calming the Latina temper. It's my experience that giving her some space works best from time to time, and maybe this is one of those times." The red head reached out and squeezed Arizona's shoulder before walking away. Arizona glanced at Callie's trailer door one more time before leaving the area.

* * *

Later that night Arizona sat at her sofa with a glass of wine. The TV was on, but the blonde couldn't tell what it was tuned in on even if her life depended on it. Her thoughts were in an entirely different place. Her Latina friend, if they were in fact still friends, had avoided her like the plague for rest of the day. And Arizona missed her. Like truly, truly missed her. She couldn't remember a time she had ever missed another person this much. It's like the brunette had secretly snuck her way in as an essential part of the blonde's well-being and Arizona hadn't even noticed until Callie wasn't there anymore. And it had only been a day.

Arizona felt a single tear make its way down her cheek. The anger she'd felt at first by the Latina's complete dismissal of listening to the blonde's side of the story had now been replaced with sadness and self-loathing. How stupid was she to think she could have dinner with Mark, who was currently going through the most famous and media-covered divorce in the entertainment-business, without it reaching the press. She should have told Callie about the dinner right away, and the brunette had every right to be hurt and angry because she didn't. Still Arizona whished the brunette would just let her explain and apologize properly.

The blonde's phone let out a ding notifying her that she had a new text message. She launched forward getting it from the coffee table hoping it was from the Latina. She couldn't help but be a little disappointed when Teddy's name appeared on the screen.

 _*Even though I can't say I liked bitchy Arizona, I'm immensely grateful to call you my friend :) Thank you for telling me what kind of an ass I was. I'm at home with Addison and I'm going to stay here tonight ;) I'll come by to get my things after work tomorrow. And one night soon you and I are going out for dinner and drinks on me, because you are AWESOME! Love you loads :* - T._

Arizona couldn't help but smile at the text. The two of them had become really close while the honey-blonde woman crashed in Arizona's guest room.

 _*You're welcome Teddy. It was nothing, really. I just gave you a much needed push in the right direction ;) I am kind of sorry that I did it in such a harsh way though :/ But I'm assuming this means that you guys worked it out. Can't wait to hear all about it. I'm happy for you :) Love you too, you stubborn goose - A._

Arizona placed her phone back on the coffee table and picked her wine back up. She twirled the wine around in her glass and let her thoughts wonder back to Callie. The blonde had never before experienced a connection and instant mutual understanding like that with anyone before. Something about the brunette continued to fascinate Arizona and it was like the brunette just understood her from the very beginning. Not even in her previous romantic relationships had Arizona experienced a closeness and connection like the one she had very quickly felt with the Latina.

Arizona sighed and drank the rest of her wine. She needed to do something. She needed to prove to Callie somehow that she was in fact very important to her. With that Arizona went to bed.

* * *

Today was the first table read since the brunette had found out about Arizona and Mark's dinner, and Callie had dreaded it. She had successfully avoided being in the same room as Arizona for the past week. It had been very difficult but luckily they hadn't had any scenes together and their make-up schedules hadn't clashed and thereby forced the brunette to stay in a room with the blonde. But Callie missed her friend. Sure she had Addison, but something about her friendship with the blonde was different. Callie couldn't pinpoint how, she just had a different feeling of calmness in her when she hung out with Arizona.

Callie entered the conference room and found a steaming cup of coffee waiting at her place at the table. Next to it was a small container of cut out mango, her favorite fruit, and half a bagel with peanut butter and apple slices.

The brunette sat down. She had a feeling, who'd brought the treats, but her suspected provider were nowhere to be seen. Callie took a sip of the coffee and started eating the bagel. Only two people in this place knew about her love for bagels with peanut butter and apple slices.

Addison and Teddy entered hand in hand and Addison placed a very passionate kiss on Teddy's eager lips as they reached the honey-blonde's chair at the table. The red head had always been somewhat reluctant to show too much TLC in public, but only a couple of the cast and crew members had arrived yet. Callie was very happy for her friends that they had worked out their differences, which hadn't really been differences after all. Addison had told Callie that they'd agreed that they both wanted kids, with each other, in the foreseeable future. The red head had also told Callie all about how Arizona had gone off at Teddy and practically bullied the honey-blonde to talk to Addison.

Then Arizona entered. She paused at the door for a second and smiled at Teddy, Addison, Meredith and Tony the sound guy, who were already there. Then she smiled at Callie who gave a somewhat forced smile back to the blonde.

Arizona put down her own coffee at the table and sat down in her chair. She chanced a look at the Latina next to her and was happy to see, that she drank and ate the gifts the blonde had brought her. Callie discovered Arizona eyeing her.

"Thank you. For the coffee and the food. That was really thoughtful of you." Callie said and gave the blonde a more genuine smile. "I didn't think you remembered that I told you about my love for bagels with peanut butter and apple slices. I mean it was kind of late at the season premier party."

Arizona smiled back at the brunette. "I remember everything about you, Callie. Because you are important to me. In fact of all the people here, you are the most important to me" the blonde truthfully stated.

"Callie, I am SO sorry for not telling you about my dinner with Mark. But to be fair he kind of promised me to talk to you about your worries with him and me. Because like I said before; NOTHING is going on between him and me."

"Wait, you told Mark what I told you?" the Latina asked the woman sitting next to her.

Arizona closed her eyes for just a second before opening them again and looking straight at Callie. The Latina's deep chocolate brown eyes drew in the blonde and she had to shake her head to get her focus back. "I did. I'm sorry, but I kind of had to explain it all to him. And by the way he's not attracted to me either. He just really needs a friend. He's lonely Callie."

The brunette toyed with the disposable fork for the mango pieces and sighed. "It's fine. I suppose he would have found out anyway. I mean I would've had to talk to him about it some time anyway." The Latina looked up at Arizona. "If nothing is going on, then what about the picture?"

Arizona smiled at Callie. "That's just two people thanking each other for a really fun evening. I promise you, scouts honor and everything, that NOTHING has, nor will it ever, happened between Mark and I. And I'm so sorry, that I was an idiot and didn't tell you about the dinner, because looking back I would have jumped to the same conclusions, you did if it had been the other way around. But I really really miss my 'Heart and Hospital' BFF and I would very much like her back. I'll do anything. I'll stop hanging out with Mark if you want me to. I'll even add you to my phone calendar so you can keep track on me at all times."

Callie couldn't help but laugh at that. "Okay maybe you're taking it a bit too far. There's no need for that. And there's no need for you to stop hanging out with Mark. You're allowed to have other friends. I'll trust you. And I've missed you too. I've become sort of addicted to you and your company, it's quite disturbing."

Arizona couldn't help but send Callie a dimpled grin. "I'm glad to hear that. Because I've become sort of addicted to you and your company too. So we're good?"

"We're good" Callie replied and started eating her mango pieces "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't bring me table read goodies some other time to suck up to me."

* * *

It had been two weeks since Arizona fixed her friendship with Callie and the two of them were back on normal terms. Tonight the two of them had decided to bring back wine night, this time at the brunette's home. She lived in a gorgeous two story house, and Arizona had spent a lot of time admiring the décor of the house. Sure the brunette had a darker and more edgy style than the blonde, but the house still felt very homey to Arizona.

In the living room the Latina had a whole wall filled with photos in various sized frames. Some had pictures of her friends; Arizona recognized Erica Hahn, Addison and Mark, but some were clearly from older times, showing a much younger Callie at high school, Juilliard or some Broadway production. The majority of them featured her close family though; her three sisters and her parents. Arizona had learned that Callie was the eldest by five years. Aria, the second Torres-sister, had graduated business school last year and now worked for their father in his hotel-company. The third Torres-sister Jael had lived up to her name, which meant 'wild as a mountain goat', and gone her own ways. She'd struggled finding out what to do with her life and had partied a lot. Now however, at 22, she studied art history in Miami. It was clear, that Callie was very proud of her sister for finally taking charge of her life and deciding to do something with it. The youngest sister, Rei, was 14 and attended the same private junior high that her older sisters had all gone to. Obviously Rei still lived at home with their parents, and both Aria and Jael lived very close by. It was clear to the blonde that the Latina missed her family and her sisters a lot and Arizona could definitely relate to that. She missed Tim and her parents terribly every day.

"…I just never had the urge to follow my mom or dad, you know. I mean it's great that Aria wanted to, but I couldn't picture myself being a lawyer or some big shot CEO of an international hotel chain." Callie said as she sipped her wine.

"I can totally relate to that. Like I've told you before it was kind of given that I would just stay put in Georgia and marry my high school sweetheart Scott and have babies while I worked at either my mom's diner or in my dad's carpentry business. But I dreamed of something other than that." Arizona said as she finished off her wine and put the glass down.

"Carpentry business, huh? Did you help your dad out a lot before you left for U of M? Is that where all of your muscles come from?" Callie teased with a hint of seriousness.

The blonde laughed. "Yeah, I guess it is. Partially anyway. I really enjoyed building things from scratch back then. A lot of the boys in town really hated, thar I did that. They found it to be too masculine for their liking. No girlfriend of theirs should know how to wield a hammer. Luckily a couple of them were different though. They knew how to appreciate the beauty in the things I build for them" Arizona said as she fished out her phone from her jeans pocket. "Wow it's gotten really late," she found when she looked at the device. "I should get home I have to be at the studio by 6 am tomorrow."

Callie looked at the blonde for a second before saying "why don't you just stay here? I have to be there at 6 am as well, so you're not causing me to get up early or anything. And this way you don't have to drive all the way across town to your apartment. You could spend that time sleeping. In a very comfortable guest bed I might add."

Arizona thought about it for a second. There wasn't really any reason for her to go home. She had everything she needed for work tomorrow. Except maybe a change of clothes, but she could just grab that from her trailer first thing. "Sure. I'd like that. If you're positive it's not an inconvenience to you?"

"Great. And not at all. I'm just going to get you some clothes to sleep in. It might be a little big for you, but it should work for just one night" Callie smiled at Arizona and made her way to her bedroom. She reappeared five minutes later with an armful of clothes.

Arizona stood from her seat at the couch and took the clothes from Callie's arms. She noticed the brunette had changed into her own night wear. She wore a mint colored pair of satin sleep shorts with a matching top. The color of the satin made the Latina's caramel skin glow and Arizona couldn't help but reach out and run her hand down the brunette's arm. Both women were slightly surprised by the blonde's gesture but none of them commented on it.

"So" Callie cleared her throat "you're good? There are fresh towels and a toothbrush under the sink. Just come let me know if you need anything else" the brunette sent a bright smile Arizona's way.

Arizona looked the brunette in the eyes and once again found herself drowning in the brown orbs of her friend. She then stepped forward and hugged the Latina with her free arm. "Thank you for tonight Callie. It was really great and I had a lot of fun" the blonde said as she inhaled the scent of the brunette. She couldn't help but notice that she smelled really good. Like sunshine and roses.

Callie was kind of surprised and confused by the blonde's behavior, but never the less she hugged her back tightly. "Thank you Arizona. I really enjoyed it as well. Sleep tight and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

The brunette eased out of the hug and made her way to the bedroom with one last smile at Arizona. When Callie had closed the door behind her, Arizona made her way down the hall to the guest bedroom. She couldn't help but smell the clothes in her arms. Yep, sunshine and roses.

 **Chapter 8 is over :) It seems that Arizona is really discovering Callie's importance in her life.**

 **As always, let me know what you think about this chapter.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	9. Chapter 9

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi you guys :)**

 **Here is chapter 9 for you. There's been a bit of a time jump from chapter 8, but you'll see once you start to read.**

 **First of: THANK YOU to all of you who left nice and amazing reviews for me. They are all lovely to read. I'll just like to take the time to address some of your reviews here:**

 **AnnaBir: Good to hear you like it – and want more! You were in luck as I practically uploaded chapter 8 as you wrote your review. Hope you liked chapter 8 as well.**

 **Jolynn15: Thank you…me neither ;)**

 **Guest: It's never rude to ask for another update! :D But I kind of went off the grid for a couple of days, which prevented me from granting your wish…until now :P**

 **Calzonafan123: She sure does. The blonde loves physical contact ;) I myself am a big hugger and I hug my friends and my family every time we greet each other and say goodbye – that probably reflects in my story…**

 **roublekm: I'm really glad you're enjoying it. And I won't be telling you that ;) But KEEP READING…it's close by! :P**

 **Guest: I'm really sorry about that. I've never meant to offend anyone. I only use the word Latina because I really think it's a beautiful word (and Latinas are beautiful people), that's very easy to read and pronounce as opposed to Caucasian (I'm a bit of a word-nerd), but I'll stop using it from this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading - I have a feeling that you'll all enjoy this chapter ;)**

CHAPTER 9:

Arizona had been a part of the 'Heart and Hospital' family for four and a half months now. The fans' love for her character continued to grow and so did the love for the perky blonde actress portraying her. This meant that occasionally spotting a paparazzi when she went out was something she'd had to get used to. For most part though the press left her alone, and she was very grateful for that. The transition period had been very short to her, and she still wasn't quite used to being in the media spotlight.

Today was the last table read and shooting day before Christmas break and the cast and crew were rewarded for their hard work with a Christmas party tomorrow night. Arizona was really looking forward to her favorite holiday at home in Georgia with her favorite people. She loved her new job more than she'd ever imagined. Being a part of 'Heart and Hospital' was awesome, and she was so grateful that she was there. But she was tired and she missed her family. She would always miss her family whenever she wasn't with them.

Arizona walked through the door to the conference room with two cups of coffee in her hands. She and Callie had come up with a system of sorts where the duo took turns bringing coffee for table reads. She smiled at Teddy, who stood off to the side talking to Addison, when she walked in. Then she made her way to her spot at the table. Callie had already arrived and pulled out Arizona's chair when the blonde reached her destination.

"Hey Callie. You're here early. I thought I'd beat you here today for sure" the blonde said as she sat down. For a second she caught a whiff off sunshine and roses stemming from the brunette seated next to her.

"Yeah, I had a quick meeting with Addison this morning." Callie smiled at Arizona as the blonde handed her one of the coffees.

"Oh, what about? Anything wrong?" Arizona asked worriedly.

Callie smiled at the other woman's concern. "I'm all good, don't worry. My agent just got an interesting script and I had to talk to Addison about the possibilities of doing it."

The thought of the brunette maybe not being on set for a period made Arizona uncharacteristically sad. "That's great Callie. I hope it works out" Arizona said as she tried to put on her best fake smile.

Callie saw right through it though, and she leaned in close to Arizona and said with a smirk "Aweee isn't that cute. You're already missing me, and I haven't even accepted it yet."

The blonde realized she'd gotten caught but smirked back none the less. "No way, I'm just sad that I have to bring my own coffee for every table read then" Arizona said as she took a sip of her latté.

Callie leaned back and let out a hearty laugh. The blonde looked at the brunette with amazement "Don't ever stop laughing." The words slipped from Arizona's mind before she got the chance to stop them.

"What?" Callie asked as she eyed Arizona.

Arizona locked her gaze on the brunette's. "Don't ever stop laughing. It is such an amazing sound and the way your whole face is relaxed but tense at the same time is just so spectacular." The blonde held the brunette's gaze for a couple of seconds before shifting her gaze to her purse to pull out her phone that had alerted her to a message earlier.

The brunette looked at Arizona with an astonished face. Lately Callie had noticed that Arizona would say the most flattering and profound things to her, and the brunette had no idea where they came from.

The blonde felt Callie's stare and shifted uncomfortably in her chair. In the past few months the blonde had felt herself appreciate more and more of not only the brunette's looks but also her personality. And sometimes the praising words just fell from her lips without a second thought. Arizona had no idea what was happening or why she said all those things without even thinking about it. But she did however, once again, notice the faint scent of sunshine and roses that followed Callie everywhere she went.

Arizona looked up from her phone "Sleepover at my place tonight? It's the last chance this year, so really consider it before you say no" the blonde joked at her friend to change the subject.

Callie grinned in return. "When have I ever said no to a sleepover? Dinner, wine and movies?"

The blonde smiled and nodded enthusiastically at the brunette. "You know it. And in case you've forgotten, it's my turn to pick out the movie" Arizona reminded Callie. The duo had had numerous movie-sleepovers since the blonde spend the night at Callie's for the first time a couple of months ago. They took turns picking out the movies but every time it was the blonde's turn, Callie would try and lure her in to letting the brunette decide.

The brunette made a pouting face at Arizona. "Fiiiiiiine. But please not anything to girly. I beg you. I'll massage your scalp all night long just don't force me to watch another early millennium teen movie!" Callie whined hoping that the blonde's love for getting her hair and scalp stroked would win out on her pleasure and love for decade old chick flicks.

This time Arizona had to laugh at her best friend's desperate try to get out of watching a teen movie. "Okay, it's a deal. But you better bring you're A-game Torres, or the deal is off!" the blonde stated.

Callie smiled brightly at Arizona before replying "You should never stop laughing either."

* * *

"And that's a wrap everyone. Great job today and enjoy the holidays!" the director yelled.

Arizona waited as Tony the sound guy came to remove her microphone. She looked to the corner of the room where Teddy and Addison stood hand in hand obviously waiting for someone.

Mark and Owen came up next to the blonde. "Enjoy your Christmas break Arizona. I'm sure you really need it. It takes time to get used to the crazy schedule and the crazy people we have here" the ginger haired man aimed at his blonde work out partner with a smirk.

Arizona smiled at Owen's thoughtfulness. "I really do. I'm sure I'm going to sleep for the first three days straight" the blonde chuckled. "Aren't you going to the Christmas party tomorrow?"

Owen shook his head. "No, I'm afraid Amelia and I can't make it. My parents celebrate their 40th anniversary tomorrow night, so we have to catch a plane to Seattle tonight actually."

At that Arizona made a disappointed face "aw man, I'd been looking forward to a couple of tequila shots with Amelia and a beer with you. But I get it. And enjoy your holiday as well Owen, I'll miss our morning workouts." The blonde uttered sincerely.

"Me too Arizona, me too." With that Owen turned to Mark "Enjoy the holidays, Sloan. I'll see you next year. Take care."

Mark and Arizona stood side by side and watched Owen leave through the doors. Then Mark turned to Arizona. "Let me just say, that this has been one hell of a season-half. I never had this much fun with Erica. Thank you Arizona."

"You're very welcome Mark. And you too." The blonde replied "We make a great couple. I just hope that Addison doesn't break us up to mess with the fans!"

"Yeah you never know what your evil boss is up to" Arizona turned around at the sound of Addison's voice. She smiled at the red head and her girlfriend.

"No, she's very annoying" Arizona said jokingly and all four of them chuckled. "What are you guys doing here?"

Addison gestured to Mark with her free hand. "Actually I came to talk to you, Mark. You know the Oscar-nominations are going to be announced in January, and I was just thinking that maybe we should prepare something for Callie. Just in case you know? And I wanted to get your opinion on that because after all you do know her best. Would she like it you think. "

Mark smiled at the red head before pointing his thumb at Arizona. "Actually I think this spitfire here, knows her best these days. They're attached at the hip. But yes, I do think she would like it, if it wasn't too over the top. She deserves the nomination and she deserves to be celebrated if she gets it."

The red head then turned to Arizona. "You think he's right?"

"Yeah I think he is" the blonde smiled. "But I think it's very important that it's not over the top. Maybe just gather the cast and crew to watch the nominations live in the screening room and then maybe just a glass of champagne or something, if she gets it. Don't make it all about her until it is, you know."

Mark, Teddy and Addison all sent beaming smiles Arizona's way "That sounds like a great idea. Thank you. We'll see you guys tomorrow night" Addison stated before tugging a waving Teddy towards the exit.

* * *

With the ringing of her doorbell Arizona made her way to the door. She opened it to find Callie joggling two grocery bags and her overnight bag. The blonde quickly took one of the bags from Callie's arms and made her way to the kitchen. "Thank you for shopping. I just didn't really have the time. I just got home five minutes ago." Arizona said as she started putting out the groceries.

Callie joined the blonde in the kitchen "Not a problem at all. I just picked up some pasta, chicken and cream for a pasta dish with a salad on the side, I hope that's okay."

The blonde could already feel her mouth water. Callie's cooking was the best. "That sounds divine. Do you mind if I go change my clothes. I need to get out of these jeans and this shirt and into my slacks and t-shirt" Arizona finished with a groan.

The brunette smiled. "Go change. I'll just start preparing the food."

Arizona took off towards her bedroom and emerged ten minutes later. She'd taken the opportunity to get rid of her make-up as well and put her hair up in a loose ponytail. "What can I do to help?" the blonde asked as she started putting on her t-shirt.

Callie had turned around at the sound of Arizona's voice and found the blonde in the process of putting on her t-shirt. The brunette caught a glimpse of a parakeet-green bra and a firm stomach. The two of them haven't talked further about the brunette's admission to be physical attracted to the blonde. But in that moment Callie knew, that it definitely hadn't passed yet.

The blonde pulled her t-shirt all the way down and found Callie staring at her. "Snap out of it, Torres" Arizona grinned at Callie. The blonde was somehow pleased to notice that the brunette still found her attractive.

The brunette instantly moved her eyes to Arizona's and found amusement in them. She blushed slightly before throwing the pasta at the blonde. "Shut up and boil this."

Arizona moved around the kitchen island and started setting up water to boil. The chicken was already sizzling in a pan and Callie was in the process of cutting the vegetables for the salad. The blonde stirred the chicken a little "What needs to be done with this?"

The brunette leaned over and looked at the chicken. "Just pour the cream in and let it simmer." Then she went back to the cutting board.

The blonde stood paralyzed. This was the first time since their first sleepover months ago, that Arizona had gotten that big of a sniff of the brunette's unique scent. It was intoxicating. She shook her head and got out of her daze. Then she poured the cream in the pan with the chicken and leaned against the kitchen counter next to Callie.

Arizona stood there admiring Callie's profile. Every time the blonde took her time to do so, she was amazed by the other woman's beauty. And it surprised her every time. Like she somehow forgot how absolutely gorgeous the taller woman really was and was instantly reminded, when she looked at her again. Arizona noticed how the small freckles on Callie's nose and upper cheeks had really popped since she saw her yesterday morning.

"What were you doing outside yesterday?" the blonde asked Callie.

The brunette slowly turned her head to look at her blonde friend with an impressed expression. She had no idea how Arizona knew, that she had spent yesterday afternoon outside.

"How the hell did you know?! And I sat outside having a coffee and a talk with Mark. It's the first Christmas we're not spending together for many years and it just feels really weird. He's somehow become part of my Christmas tradition, and I felt like we just needed to do something else. To honor that. So I proposed coffee and for the first time in so long, I remembered what it was like to have him as a friend. We talked and laughed and had so much fun. I can tell that he's still kind of lonely though and I'm positive there's something he isn't telling me" Callie answered before fixing her gaze back on the vegetables on the chopping

The brunette felt a soft hand come up and caress her cheek before a pale forefinger traced her nose. She couldn't help but close her eyes and enjoy it.

"I knew because your freckles are really prominent today. They are like the Milky Way. It's a very clear band of stars that's aligned on the midnight sky. They light up. And it's beautiful." Arizona quickly withdrew her hand from Callie's face and blushed slightly.

The brunette put the vegetables in the salad bowl and turned her gaze to her blonde friend. "What is going on with you? You've been acting kind of strange lately and sometimes you say things that sound like they belong in a Shakespeare novel or a song lyric" Callie chuckled at the blonde.

Arizona avoided her gaze from Callie's. What WAS going on with her? "I'm sorry. I don't know why I do it. I just think you deserve to know that all of you are beautiful and unique and make you extraordinary."

The brunette couldn't help but laugh. "You're doing it again. And who knew that I could turn you in to such a wordsmith. If you ever decide to write any of this down, I expect to get a chunk of your earnings, you know that right?"

Arizona exhaled in relief at the fact that Callie took the whole thing so lightly, and laughed along with her. "Of course. And I'll make sure you get credited in my first collection of love poems." With that Arizona took the bowl of salad and left the kitchen. The brunette just stood there contemplating what the blonde just said. Love poems?

* * *

An hour later the two were in the living room. Callie was seated on the blonde's couch in front of her TV and Arizona sat at the floor in front of her DVD collection. "Oh my God, please tell me, we're not watching 'The princess Diaries' again" Callie groaned as the other woman rummaged through the cases.

Arizona chuckled at the brunette's tone of voice. "No don't worry. We made a deal remember. Besides I learned my lesson the last time. Boy, can you complain a lot!" the blonde said as she continued to look through the many cases. "You know what, there's nothing here that I'd like to watch. Netflix it is!"

Arizona stood up and plumped down on the couch next to Callie. "Let's see what's on here." As soon as the blonde logged in they were met with Callie's face. The brunette growled and threw her head at the back of the couch.

Arizona watched Callie with amusement. "I take it, you don't want to watch that either?" she questioned, even though she already knew the answer.

Callie rolled her head to the side and looked at Arizona. "I'd rather have a root canal. Or watch 'The princess Diaries'!"

The blonde laughed at the brunette next to her. "Naah, its Christmas soon. Consider it my gift to you, that you don't have to watch either of them!"

"Wow, look at you, you big spender! And I thought you didn't get me anything." Callie deadpanned at the laughing blonde next to her.

Arizona turned her attention back to the TV and perused the different options. When she once again came across Callie's face, she paused. "You should be proud of it though. It's really good Callie. I have dreamed about making a movie like that for my entire adult life." Then she continued scrolling and finally landed on 'Jurassic Park'. "Is this okay with you?"

Callie beamed at Arizona's choice. "Are you kidding? It's only one of the best movies of all time. Of course it's okay! Thank you. And I am, you know. Proud of the movie. It's just still weird seeing my own face on screen. I never think I'll get used to that, and I hate doing it on my off time. And you'll get to make a movie like that someday Arizona. And to be honest I have a feeling it's going to be soon, because the fans are not the only ones who love you. I know, because my agent's told me, that there are quite a few directors out there, who are very interested in you. Just give it time. They'll come to you."

The blonde just gave the brunette a dimpled smile in thanks and lay down with her head in Callie's lap. "Get to it, Callie. We made a deal!" Callie chuckled and started running her hands through blonde locks while occasionally scraping the blonde's scalp calmly. As she lay there Arizona couldn't help but inhale the scent of the other woman. And a sense of belonging instantly rushed over her.

* * *

After spending a very relaxing evening and morning with Arizona, Callie had gone home to prepare for the Christmas party. The brunette had enjoyed her night and morning with the blonde as always. The two of them spend almost all of their free time together, and as she got home it suddenly dawned on Callie that she wouldn't be seeing the blonde for almost three weeks. Today was December 16th and they weren't due back on set until the 3rd of January. The thought made Callie sadder than she'd thought it would. She decided that she needed to have fun and soak up as much of the blonde as she could tonight. And it's not like they wouldn't be able to stay in touch during the holidays.

She changed in to a deep red, strapless, knee length dress. Her make-up was light and her hair was straightened. There was no red carpet or anything at the party and Callie liked that there was no need to really get dressed up. After months in what felt like constant make-up, she enjoyed being able to keep it light tonight. After putting on her high heels she made her way to the door, grabbing her purse on the way.

Callie thanked her driver as the car pulled up at the hotel where the party was being held. Normally the Christmas party was held at the studio or one of the cast or crew members' house, but Addison had insisted they did something else this year, hence the destination. The top floor of the hotel was a four-star restaurant and Addison had booked the whole thing for the night. It had to have cost a small fortune. Callie wondered if the red head had gone all in with this party, because of her absence from the set for a couple of weeks, when she and Teddy had broken up. The setting really called for a great night and Callie couldn't wait.

She went to the foyer and saw Addison, Teddy and Jackson waiting by the elevators. Even from the entrance she could tell, that Jackson was really uncomfortable.

"…don't look at me like that Jackson. All I'm saying is that maybe tonight you should hit on her, when she DOESN'T have her head buried in the toilet." Addison laughed.

Teddy just smiled and pulled the red head closer to her by her hand. "Leave him alone Addi. Or maybe our secret about your first attempt at flirting with me won't be so secret anymore" the honey-blonde teased. Addison just looked at her girlfriend with an incredulous look. Then she squinted her eyes.

"You wouldn't. Remember I'm not the only one with secrets" Addison smirked as she leaned in and planted a soft, slow kiss on Teddy. When she withdrew she caught glimpse of Callie.

"Hey you. You look beautiful tonight Callie T" the red head said as Callie caught up with them just as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"Thank you. You too Ads. And you Teddy." The brunette smiled at her friend's goofiness as they got on the elevator. It was very clear that Addison was happy and Callie was delighted for her friend.

The honey-blonde smiled back and the elevator started its ascent. When they reached the top floor the doors opened and all four of them stepped out. Callie didn't have the chance to take in the room though, before she was attacked by a flash of blonde hair.

"I've waited for you forever, Callie" Arizona stated as she swung her arms around the taller woman's neck and hugged her.

Callie didn't even get the chance to hug her back, before she was released from the blonde's hug. "Sorry I just realized, when I was at home changing, that tonight would be the last time I saw you for quite some time, and that just bummed me out because I like hanging out with you all the time" Arizona rambled on.

Callie just smiled and put her hand on Arizona's shoulder. The blonde was wearing a long sleeved black dress and the fabric felt really soft against Callie's hand. "No need to apologize. You can hug me any time you want. And that thought bummed me out as well. I had the same revelation, when I was at home too."

Arizona put her hand on her heart "Oh thank God. I was afraid I was being all creepy and clingy." The blonde let out a puff of air and Callie couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Come on. Let's enjoy this night to the fullest. We are going to dance, drink and hang out with our friends all night long" the brunette said as she grabbed Arizona by the arm and let her to the bar.

* * *

The party had been going strong for 4 hours and Arizona loved it. It was nothing like the season premier party. This was way more casual and people let loose a lot faster and in a different way than at the past party. But Arizona couldn't shake the thought that this was her last night with her best friend for at least two weeks. And that made her want Callie all to herself.

The brunette was standing next to her talking to Miranda Bailey and Richard Webber. Webber had been praising Callie for her last movie role, and the brunette had shared a lot of funny stories from the movie set much to the amusement of the experienced actor.

When the chance was given Arizona took Callie's hand. "If you'll excuse us for a second, I have to show Callie something" with a smile at their colleagues the blonde started dragging the brunette towards the end of the restaurant.

"Where are we going?" Callie questioned as she was being tugged along.

Arizona turned and gave Callie a dimpled smile "Just come with me and you'll see."

The duo made their way to a door and Arizona opened it revealing a big balcony. Once she'd dragged Callie outside, she closed the door behind them. Then she silently walked towards a couple of lounge chairs and sat down on one of them. Callie followed and plopped down on the second one.

"I just wanted to get you alone for a little bit. Talk to you properly before we went our separate ways for Christmas. I hope that's okay?" the blonde shyly asked.

Callie smiled softly at her friend. "Of course that's okay Arizona. I like it out here. When are you headed to Georgia?" Callie asked. She could feel the alcohol in her system, and as she inhaled the fresh air, she realized that this was just what she needed.

"Tomorrow at noon. I can't wait to see my parents and Tim again. I've really missed them! Tim and I used to have all these Christmas traditions during December when we were kids. And every year the memories of those traditions just make me miss them a little bit more than any other time of the year. When are you Miami bound?" Arizona asked her friend.

The brunette shifted her gaze to the LA skyline "Not for another three days. I just need a few days to myself to unwind before having to deal with my sisters and the entire family on my mother's side. Don't get me wrong, I love my family to death, but it just gets a little much sometimes. Every time I go home they all hover over me in this kind of creepy way. I know they only do it because the love me and miss me, but sometimes I just need a minute to myself. And it's only gotten worse since Mark and I split up. Plus one of my cousins or my sisters always brings a new partner, who becomes star struck and walk into doors or walls because they are too busy staring at me."

Arizona giggled, and the brunette noticed that the blonde scrunched up her nose in the cutest way when she did it. "Well, I can't blame them. You are pretty good looking and an amazing woman. I would stare at you too. In fact I often do, when you're not paying attention to me. And you always look so beautiful and peaceful. Like nothing can bring you down. I really admire that," the blonde sincerely replied.

Callie glanced at Arizona and thought back to their conversation last night and wondered if maybe this had been one of those times, where the blonde just couldn't help herself. Nevertheless she felt very flattered.

Arizona once again admired the brunette's profile. She felt her heart beat faster as she allowed the thoughts about what made her continue to look at Callie with such adoration sneak up on her. She was shaken from her thoughts though, when Callie turned and looked at her again.

"Are you going to be staying in Georgia for New Years as well?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah. I almost always do. I spend the evening with Tim and our friends. It's the best. I spent it in New York one time, but I just didn't like it that much. Sure it was beautiful and everything and I really, REALLY loved the fireworks, because you don't see anything like that in Georgia. But everything just seemed so rushed. I like the calmness of Little Creek, Georgia better" the blonde said with a nostalgic look in her eyes. "Are you bringing in the New Year in Miami?"

Callie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know yet. I mean I could. Some of my high school friends invited me to their house. But Addison and Teddy invited me to their party as well, and Mark said it was perfectly fine if I joined him and some of our friends we always used to spend New Year's Eve with."

The blonde smiled at the brunette before teasingly stating "Wow, being a super star really pays off. I haven't been invited to any party at Addison and Teddy's. I guess I don't bring in the big bucks yet" Arizona laughed and Callie joined her.

"I guess you don't. Maybe I'll join you in Little Creek, Georgia, though. A laid back New Year's Eve sound wonderful" the brunette stated with a hushed voice.

"Whoa, who said anything about laid back? I said Little Creek had a calmness to it, but New Year's Eve in that place is anything but laid back." Arizona seriously stated "but if you're serious just text me after Christmas and we'll figure something out. But know that there will be some squealing happening and you probably have to write autographs for the whole town at some point. No star even remotely close to your caliber has ever stepped foot in our town" the blonde giggled.

Callie laughed. "I can live with that. And I'll think about it and let you know."

The two sat in silence for a while before Callie got up and walked to the edge of the balcony. She leaned her elbows on the railing and watched as the city flowed past beneath her. Her ass popped out and her hair flowed slightly in the breeze. Arizona spent a moment admiring the other woman before she walked up next to her and leaned her back against the railing.

"I can't believe what has happened this past year" Callie stated as she was staring off into the night. "It started out really great. I had just finished shooting the movie and the rumors about its apparent greatness had already reached the press. Marketing did an amazing job with that by the way. Then as the spring arrived, I started really noticing that things between me and Mark weren't as they used to be. They had been…well, not rocky, but different for some time but I only first really started noticing it then. We left the studio separately, he didn't stop by my sets for a quick kiss and he never spooned me while we slept anymore like he used to. I know it seems insignificant, but when you share a life together these things are big changes. I gave him the trip to the Maldives and the Galapagos as a birthday present in March, but by late April he announced that he wanted to divorce me. Summer was hell, and I'm sure my mother put Aria and Jael on suicide watch more than once to make sure I didn't just end my sorry life while she was at work. But then you made an appearance in my life, and now Mark is hardly part of my thoughts. Not romantically anyway. So thank you, Arizona. You've made my year end on a high note." The brunette finished and looked at the blonde with unshed tears in her eyes.

Arizona was a little taken aback by the brunettes rant, but she smiled a big, bright, dimpled smile at the taller woman.

"You are absolutely welcome. And it goes the other way around to, you know. I was so nervous when I first got here, but somehow you helped calm my nerves. You seem to have this radar for my nervousness and you have been there for me every time I needed you during these months. Not to mention you're the best friend I've ever had. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I can tell you everything, because even the things I haven't told you, you already know" the blonde finished as she looked down and twisted one of the rings on her fingers.

Callie leaned over and bumped the other woman's shoulder before aiming her attention at the skyline once again. "You CAN tell me everything. Always. Because I do know you. And I only tried to ease your nerves because you had absolutely nothing to worry about. You are great at what you do, and you'll get very far."

The blonde chuckled at the brunette. "Well if I don't, I can always steal one of your awards and pretend it's mine. I'll just put on a nice dress and stand at home pretending to win it. That way my epic acceptance speech I wrote in my head in the shower when I was 13 won't go to waste" Arizona giggled. She had been very amazed the first time Callie had shown the blonde her award-cabinet.

Callie turned her head and smiled at the mesmerizing blonde next to her. The other woman's ocean blue eyes sparkled in the lights from the party going on in full swing behind the closed door a few feet away. The alcohol had made her cheeks tint with a slight pink blush and Callie found her absolutely stunning. The brunette had often studied the blonde's features during wine nights or movie nights, but something about the way Arizona looked tonight made the brunette's heart skip a beat. Her attraction to the blonde was at an all-time high this evening and Callie partially blamed it on her intake of alcohol, but she also realized that it had somehow grown stronger during these months, when the brunette got to know the blonde better. She was no longer only attracted to the blonde's physique. She was attracted to all of Arizona. She almost let a panic attack, like the one she had in the kitchen months earlier, set in, but she reigned it in and just inhaled deeply instead.

Arizona observed as Callie's eyes once again took in her every feature, until a look of panic took over. The look was soon replaced with a look of acceptance though and the brunette took a deep breath. Arizona's eyes connected with the deep, chocolate brown ones of her best friend and the blonde's breath caught in her throat. Those eyes conveyed so many feelings in this moment and Arizona watched as Callie silently and slowly leaned forward. "How drunk are you?" the Latina softly asked, as her face was inches away from the blonde's.

The blonde was absolutely certain what was about to happen. Callie was going to kiss her. But she gave Arizona a way out. Until that moment Arizona hadn't let her brain catch up to what her heart was already trying to tell her. But right now all of the nerves connected, and in that second she suddenly discovered, that she was intrigued and attracted to Callie on a romantic level. All the times she'd inhaled the brunette's unique scent, admired her beauty or minutes ago when her heartrate sped up, was really her body telling her she was starting to feel an attraction towards her best friend. Her brain desperately wanted to let the fear of the unknown win. To pull away and ask the brunette what she meant, or tell her that she was too drunk for this and that Callie was silly. But she didn't. Instead she leaned forward ever so slightly. "Don't worry, I'm not that drunk that I don't know what is about to happen, but I'm tipsy enough to let it" Arizona honestly whispered back while keeping eye contact with the brunette.

The two were so close that Callie felt Arizona's breath wash over her own lips when she spoke. She once again inched forward and watched the beautiful ocean blue eyes in front of her close in anticipation. The Latina closed her own eyes a second before her plump lips connected with the soft, pink ones of her best friend.

When Arizona felt Callie's velvety lips softly cover her own she stopped breathing. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. The brunette's lips were so different, yet so familiar. They were like no other lips she had ever kissed. The brunette's lips were softer and so much gentler when connected with her own. Maybe it was because it was a woman's lips or maybe it was because it was Callie's, Arizona didn't know. And she didn't care one bit. Everything in that moment was perfect and right and she desperately wanted to prolong it. She let out an involuntarily sigh as she parted her lips, and let her tongue glide slowly across Callie's lips begging for entrance.

The brunette couldn't help but moan a little as she felt Arizona's tongue trace her bottom lip. She instantly granted it access and when the kiss deepened, she swore that she had never tasted anything as sweet as the blonde in front of her. Callie reached out and grabbed the other woman by her waist, dragging the blonde woman's body flush against her own. She wanted to feel every bit of the blonde in that minute. She suddenly couldn't get enough of Arizona. Their tongues continued to glide effortlessly together and it felt so right to both women.

When the kiss came to a natural hold, Callie slowly let go of Arizona and opened her eyes. They connected with the blue eyes in front of her that had darkened to a new and even more enchanting shade of blue within the last few minutes. The Latina aimed a brilliant smile at Arizona, and watched as several emotions twirled around in the other woman's eyes. Almost none of them were any Callie had ever seen before, but she felt relieved, when she thought she saw both lust and adoration flash before her. And then all of a sudden the blonde's whole demeanor changed. And Callie could pinpoint the new feelings in the intoxicating blue eyes right away; fear, panic and regret.

"Arizona…" Callie reached out for the shorter woman's hand. But the blonde took a big step away from the taller woman.

"Callie, I…I have to go. Merry Christmas" Arizona hurriedly stated before twirling around and making her way through the door, not giving the Latina the chance to stop her.

 **There it is you guys! Their first kiss – yay! I really hope it didn't disappoint…**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	10. Chapter 10

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Here's the next chapter of 'HD & HD'. You've all been so wonderful with chapter 9, THANK YOU for that. You guys are all kinds of amazing. Once again the chapter is looooong – actually it's the longest one yet.**

 **Before reading this chapter I just want you to know that Spanish is not one of the languages I know, so please bear with me, if any of it is wrong. I've had to turn to google translate for help.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy chapter 10 :)**

CHAPTER 10:

Arizona stepped foot on Georgia soil for the first time in almost six months. As soon as the plane had descended she felt what little energy she had left leave her body. She'd hardly slept the night before, because her mind just wouldn't let up and she was exhausted to her bones both mentally and physically.

Callie had kissed her. Beautiful, awesome, fun and kind Callie had bravely taken the initiative and put her perfect lips on those of Arizona's. And the blonde had liked it. Actually it had been out of this world amazing. But Callie was a woman, a fantastic woman, but a woman none the less. And as the kiss ended, Arizona had realized what had happened and the pure shock of it and the fact that she liked it, had made her flee the scene in panic. And then she'd fled the state. She'd actually gone to the airport five hours before her flight departure, just because she feared that Callie might show up at her doorstop to clear the air before they went to their separate

She turned on her phone and found three new text messages from Callie. The texts had started coming last night as soon as the blonde made it to her apartment. She opened the first new one.

 _*I'm so sorry Arizona! I know you're ignoring me right now and that's okay, but I can't tell you enough how sorry I am. Can we just forget it ever happened? - Callie_

Arizona sighed. Yeah like that was a possibility. She opened the next text.

 _*I don't know what to do to make it better. Please tell me. I'll do anything. – Callie_

Arizona felt a pang of regret at the huge amount of responsibility Callie felt for the whole situation. The blonde had been perfectly aware of what was about to happen and she had let Callie know that. Nothing that happened last night was against her will. But then again, she did flee the scene at lightning speed and she supposed that if the situation was reversed she would have felt guilty too. She opened the last text message.

 _*Will you let me know when you've made it to Georgia? Please. - Callie_

Arizona ignored the request and put her phone back in her pocket. She just wanted to go home to her parents. She found her suitcase and made her way out of the airport. She was stopped a few times by fans asking for an autograph, and even though she felt like telling all of them to go to hell and leave her alone, she smiled, posed for pictures and signed whatever paper they stuck at her. Finally she made it out of the airport where she instantly spotted her brother leaning up against his van.

"Tim!" Arizona yelled before ditching her suitcase and charged towards her brother. Blue eyes almost identical to her own found hers and a big dimpled smile made its way to her brother's face.

"Az! It's so good to see you." Tim exclaimed as he enveloped his younger sister in a big hug when she reached him.

Arizona smiled into her brother's neck and inhaled his scent. He smelled exactly like she remembered, and she immediately relaxed. "You too, big T. I've really missed you" the blonde woman stated with a bit of a crack to her voice.

Tim pulled back a little and looked at his sister with concern. "Hey I'm right here. And I'm happy and healthy. What's with you?"

The woman cleared her throat. "Nothing. I'm just really happy to be back home."

The blonde man smiled at his sister and made his way to her abandoned suitcase. When he came back with her belongings in tow, he opened the passenger door to Arizona. "Then let's go home to mom and dad's. Mom's been baking and cooking for the past three days because her movie star of a daughter was coming home. And do expect the rest of the town to go ballistic as well. Little Creek is very proud of you. The mayor organizes a potluck every Thursday, and then we all eat together and watch the show."

Arizona blushed slightly. "Maybe I should go to mom's diner one of the first days and sign autographs and stuff. Get it over with. That way the rest of our Christmas vacation can go back to normal."

Tim snorted as he turned on the car. "Yeah good luck with that. Normal will never be an option again, sis."

* * *

Callie dragged her suitcase behind her in the busy Miami International Airport. She wore a hat and her sunglasses to try and attract as little attention to herself as possible. She couldn't wait to get to her parents' house, throw her disguise and just be. The brunette was drained and disheartened. She had spent the better part of the last three days trying to get in touch with Arizona. She had called, left voicemail messages and texted. She'd actually also stopped by the blonde's apartment the next day, but nobody answered the door, so she must have gone to the airport already. Callie had no idea what to do next. Send a skywriter with the words 'I'm sorry'?

The brunette shook her head and made her way out of the airport. She spotted her father's driver and walked over to him. "Hey Roberto", Callie greeted the man with a smile and a hug.

"Hello Mrs. Sloan" the man politely greeted back and eased out of the hug.

Callie patted the man lovingly on the back. "It's back to Ms. Torres again, Roberto. And I told you, you can call me Callie! How are you?" the brunette asked, while Roberto put her luggage in the car.

Roberto blushed slightly. "I'm so sorry Ms. Torres, I completely forgot. And I'm good. Marion is good. The kids are good and doing very well at college. So I'm happy. What about you Ms.?"

Callie got in the car as Roberto opened the door. She waited until the man got in the car before answering him. "I'm surprisingly good actually. The show is doing really well, and I have a lot of great people in my life. I'm good" the brunette smiled at the man from the back seat.

"I'm glad to hear that Ms. Torres. Maybe another suitor has appeared?" the older man smiled at Callie in the rear view mirror.

The brunette's smile instantly fell and sadness washed over her. "No. Unfortunately not." Callie looked out the window for a second as the outskirts of Miami passed by and whispered to herself "She doesn't want me". Callie pulled out her phone from her purse and turned it on. Still no messages from the blonde. She shot off a quick text to Mark and Addison letting them know she arrived safely in Miami. She paused for a second before also sending at text to Arizona. She then looked back at Roberto. "I think I'm just going to close my eyes for a couple of minutes Roberto. I'm exhausted from the flight." Roberto just gave her a warm nod in return.

* * *

Arizona was working in her father's workshop with her dad and Tim when she felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her jean overalls. She put down the tools and pulled out the phone. Once again the message was from Callie. It had been three days and the brunette hadn't let up. Callie texted and called Arizona all day long. Although it had been sparingly with the texts and calls today. The blonde opened the text.

 _*Hey. Just wanted to let you know, that I'm in Miami now. Please call or text me back, Arizona. I'm going crazy. I just want to know that you're alright. I'm really sorry. – Callie_

The blonde turned off her phone and put it back in her pocket. She then dried the sweat of her forehead with the back of her hand and let her thoughts wander. Callie wasn't the only one going crazy. The blonde couldn't get the kiss out of her mind. It was like it was put on repeat in a movie theater in her brain. And every time she closed her eyes, she could see, smell and feel the other woman. And Arizona hated that. Because she just wanted some time to NOT think about it. She wanted to postpone thinking about it and figuring everything out. Right now she just wanted to enjoy the holiday season. But that was damn near impossible.

"You're not going to reply whoever that was?" Tim asked his sister, when he could practically see the wheels turning inside her head. Arizona hadn't been her usually joyful, Christmas-loving self and Tim had already voiced his concern to their mom.

Arizona looked at her big brother and shook her head. "No. It was nothing important. It can wait." The blonde woman picked up her tools again and started planing the piece of wood, that was in front of her.

Tim crossed his arms on his chest and looked at his sister. "Oh like the other 20 times that someone texted and called you? Who is it? And why aren't you answering?"

Arizona sighed. She had to come up with something fast. She put down the plane and crossed her own arms over her chest. "It's not any of your business, Tim. But if you MUST know, it's just group texts. The cast has a group together and everyone uses it to wish each other happy holidays. I already did that, which is why I'm not replying."

The blonde man didn't give up though. "You're lying Az! And don't for a second think, I don't know that! But if you don't want to talk about, then fine. Just tell me if I need to kick someone's ass. Because I will absolutely do jail time for you." Tim was happy to see that he made his sister laugh.

The woman walked up to her big brother and placed a kiss on his sweaty cheek. "Thank you Tim. You're the best big brother ever. And it's really nothing. I've just been so busy with the show, that it takes some time to decompress from it all."

Tim looked at his sister. She did look kind of worn out. "Okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Arizona smiled a bright smile at her brother. "You're already doing it Tim."

Daniel Robbins interrupted the moment between his two children. "Are you two going to actually work. Because this is not gossip-central. That's in the kitchen with your mother" their dad joked.

Tim and Arizona laughed at him before the blonde woman replied. "Chill dad, we just took a break. And with our help you'll have the gazeebo for the Miller/Morgan wedding ready before the big day, don't worry. You taught us well, remember?"

Her dad smiled and picked up the plane for her. "Then you better get to it. Because super-star-you have to go into town in three hours for meet and greet with every single inhabitant and visitor to this town. And God knows that is going to take all night."

Arizona chuckled, took the plane from her dad and got back to work.

* * *

When Roberto drove through the gates of her parents' property, Callie could already see Rei sitting impatiently outside the door to the house. The brunette knew that her youngest sister had probably camped out in that exact spot, when Roberto left for the airport hours prior.

As the car stopped Callie hadn't even gotten off her seatbelt before the door was yanked open and a smiling Rei was greeting her. "CALLIE" the 14 year old yelled before catapulting herself onto her big sisters lap. The oldest brunette let out a 'hoompf' when Rei landed on her thighs. "I've missed you" the youngest girl said as she put both her hands on her big sister's cheeks and squeezed them together. Rei had done that every time she greeted Callie since she was a baby. She didn't do it to their other sisters and even though it was really weird and silly, Callie liked that it was something unique between the two of them.

Callie looked at her youngest sister. She was absolutely beautiful and Callie was taken aback every time she saw her because her face and body were really transitioning into those of a young woman right now and it seemed she's changed every time the older brunette saw her. Callie realized that their dad was right when he said, that Rei looked more and more like her oldest sister every day. "I missed you too, hermanita. Are you going to let me get out of the car or are mom going to bring us our Christmas food and presents in here?" Callie jokingly asked.

This made Rei laugh. "No, that's silly! You know we can't eat in this car. And Aria and Jael would be maaaad at me if I didn't let you go in the house. They are going to lure you into signing all kinds of crap for their friends" the youngest sister rattled out on her older sisters.

Callie raised an eyebrow at her sister "Language Rei! And is that so. Well then it's going to be interesting to see if they'll succeed."

Rei giggled and got off Callie's lap and out of the car. She then took Callie's purse to make it easier for her older sister to take her suitcase. Callie always insisted not to let the driver drag her stuff. She was very capable of doing that herself. After all it was her stuff. The duo made their way to the house while Rei was talking up a storm about the daily life in junior high.

When they got inside she immediately dumped Callie's purse at the entrance and ran to the living room. She came back with her phone in hand. "We have to take a selfie for my Instagram, Callie. Please."

The older brunette didn't get the chance to reply before their mother appeared from the kitchen. "Let your sister get settled before pestering her about selfies. Your Instagram followers can wait darling" Callie watched as a pouting Rei made her way to the living room with her arms crossed at her chest. Obviously she wasn't satisfied with the change of her plans.

Callie then directed her gaze to her mom and smiled when she was engulfed in a big hug. "Hello Calliope. It's so good to see you, mija. How are you doing?" Her mother held her at arm's length. "You look a lot better" she said as her eyes took in every single feature of her eldest daughter.

"Hey mama. It's good to see you too. And I'm so much better now. Going back to work really helped." Callie truthfully replied and smiled at her mother at the use of her full name.

The duo was interrupted when Aria and Carlos Torres entered the hall. Carlos was the first to greet his daughter and Lucia took a step to the side to let her husband hug their daughter. "Hola Hermosa. I've missed you so much". Callie hugged her father back with all she had. She'd always been kind of a daddy's girl and Callie knew she broke his heart a little when she announced, she had no intentions of taking over the company. He had never been anything but supporting about her choice of career though. The brunette had to concentrate to hold back the tears that threatened to gather in her chocolate brown eyes.

"God, I've missed you too, papi" Callie said as she buried her face further in to his shoulder. Carlos sent a concerned look his wife's way and the look was requited. The man caresses his eldest daughter's back lovingly. "Are you okay, mija? I thought things were better. You've sounded so happy on the phone these last couple of months."

Callie took in a deep breath and let go of her father. "I am, I promise. I just got so overwhelmed seeing all of you again. I really, really miss you, when I'm in LA." The brunette smiled at her father, then her mother at lastly her sister. Aria stepped forward "We really, really miss you too, when you're in LA. How about giving your favorite sister some much needed loving. I promise I won't rope you into taking selfies with me for my Instagram" Aria stated as she reached out to hug her big sister.

The brunette laughed and hugged her sister back while she said "Maybe not, but I hear you and Jael conspire to lure me into signing, and I quote, 'all kinds of crap' for your friends."

Aria quickly pulled back. "I'm going to kill that little snitch!"

Callie pulled her sister back in for another hug. "Don't do that. But you can throw her in the pool later, if you want. And you know I'll sign anything you want. You don't need to lure me into anything. All you have to do is ask."

Carlos snorted next to them. "You might want to see the pile of stuff first. I think it's the biggest one yet. You're probably providing every single one in their entourages with Christmas presents for their families."

Callie just smiled at her father and then looked at Aria. She reached out and put a lock of dark brown hair behind her sister's ear. "That doesn't matter. I'll do anything for the rug rats. And I'm sure that when I have to call in a favor from any of my sisters one day, they won't say no to me either."

Aria smiled back at her big sister. "Of course not. But can that favor PLEASE be accompanying Joshua Halls to some big event."

Callie let out a loud laugh. Joshua Halls was a huge star and a real hunk. Callie had only met him briefly one time though. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how that will ever be a favor to me. Besides I already told all three of you repeatedly, that I don't know him."

Aria looked at her sister and once again threw her arms around her big sister. "It's so good to have you home Callie."

* * *

Barbara Robbins watched as her daughter's phone danced across the breakfast bar for what had to be the 30th time in these last 5 days. And just like the rest of the times, her daughter looked at the caller-ID, frowned and hit the ignore button. Thirty seconds later it vibrated again with what Barbara guessed to be a notification of a voicemail message.

"You're a popular girl. Who keeps calling you?" the woman asked as she poured herself and Arizona a glass of lemonade.

Her daughter got a dejected look on her face before whispering "No one."

Barbara watched her daughter play with a droplet of water that made its way down the glass. She took a seat next to her at the breakfast bar and put a comforting hand on the younger blonde's shoulder. "For the past 28 years I have known you to love Christmas more than any other holiday, but this year you don't even seem to care, that it's here. I can tell that something is bothering you, honey. Please tell me what it is? Is it guy problems? Is some guy not treating you well? Because we can just give his name to your dad and Tim, and you know they'll make sure he never bothers you again" Barbara winked at her daughter and it made the younger woman chuckle.

Arizona sighed. She knew her mother wouldn't let up until she'd told her. And the blonde just didn't have the energy to make something up. She was exhausted. "No it's not guy problems."

The blonde looked to the bright blue eyes of her mother that were so similar to those of her own. But these particular blue eyes conveyed an enormous amount of motherly love. "You know how I told you, that I'd gotten really good friends with Callie Torres? We just hit it off and I can't remember ever getting this familiar with another person that fast. Something just feels so right whenever I'm with her. And then at the Christmas party, we had a moment just the two of us outside, and she kissed me. And I let it happen. In fact I encouraged her to do it. And I really liked it mom! And then I kind of remembered what had just happened, and just left her there and fled the party. So she keeps calling and texting me. To make sure I'm alright. Because she's just that kind of person. And I have no idea what to do…it's all so messed up and I am so confused!" Arizona looked to the ceiling to try and stop the tears that had welled up in her eyes from spilling. But it was a battle she was losing very fast and with one look at her mother, the tears made their way down her cheeks, and she let out a heartfelt sob.

Barbara tried really hard not to show the surprise she felt at her daughter's words. "Oh honey." The older Robbins woman said softly, before she reached out and pulled her daughter to her. Arizona instantly hooked her arms around her mother and cried into her shoulder. Barbara soothingly caressed her daughters back, while the younger blonde let it all out. When the sobs died down, Barbara eased out of the hug and put both of her hands on her daughter's cheeks. She looked her square in the eyes and tried to convey all the love she felt for her daughter in what she said next.

"Sweetie, you need to call or text that poor woman back. She's clearly worried and she needs some sign of life from you. I'm sure she doesn't really care what you say at this point, as long as you give her something." Arizona sighed and nodded her head. She knew her mother was right. "And now for the rest of it. First of all I would lie if I said I wasn't surprised, but Arizona, honey, please know that it doesn't matter to either me nor your dad who you're with. We just want you to be happy. You let her kiss you for a reason, maybe because deep down you've wanted it to happen before it even did. And you liked it because she's clearly a pretty amazing woman. From all you've told me about her, I've only ever thought of her as a good person, and I can't wait to meet her, no matter what happens. Because I know she's been looking out for you and as your mother I'm very grateful for that. I can't tell you what to do Arizona, but I have to say that it sounds like you like her a lot. Maybe in more than a friendly matter. And I get why that must be very hard to deal with. But don't let someone amazing get away because of their gender. Don't let the chance of love pass you by, because she happens to have a set of boobs that matches your own." Barbara sent her daughter a heartfelt smile and was relieved to see the younger blonde smile back.

"Thank you mom. I love you" was all Arizona could say. It was all so overwhelming to her.

"You're so very welcome honey. I want you to know that you can always talk to me, okay? But you need to cheer up and enjoy the holiday season or your brother is going to pick up on your mood more than he already has. And he is going to be pissed, that you're stealing Callie Torres away from him now that she's finally single. You now he has the biggest crush on her" Barbara deadpanned and Arizona giggled.

As if on cue, the blonde's phone once again vibrated on the breakfast bar. Barbara rose and put her hand on her daughters shoulder for a loving squeeze. "Text her back Arizona. She deserves to know that you're alright. And keep in mind, that maybe she's as overwhelmed and confused by this whole thing as you are." With that the older blonde left her daughter alone in the kitchen.

Arizona picked up her phone and was surprised to see, that the text she just received was from Teddy.

 _*I have no idea what your Christmas tradition in Georgia is like, but PLEASE take the time to call or text Callie back! She's been calling Addi all day wanting to know if we heard from you at all. She thinks you're ignoring her, although I have no idea why she would think that. Maybe you just broke or lost your phone. Anyway just get in touch with her whenever you see this. Merry Christmas! –T_

The blonde sighed and hang her head in defeat. Callie had resolved to calling Addison and Teddy. She knew that the brunette would never do that if it wasn't a last resort of getting some information about the blonde.

 _*Hey Teddy. Sorry about that. I've just been very busy and then I misplaced my phone. But I'll get in touch with Callie. Merry Christmas to you too. And give my love to Addison. – A_

Arizona opened her conversation with Callie. It was very clear that it had been one way only lately. Arizona let her thumb hover over the keys. But it just didn't move. Arizona sighed in defeat and put her phone down once again. She stared at it for a couple of minutes before deciding to check her voicemail.

"You have one new message: Hey Arizona. It's Callie. Again. I'm sorry I'm blowing up your phone like this and filling your voicemail inbox. And your text inbox. And I'm not even sure you listen to or read any of it. But I just really need to tell you again, that I'm sorry. I should have never done it. I can't say I regret it though, because if I'm going to be honest with you, I really liked it. And I kind of got the feeling you did too. But I'm sorry if I misread the situation. We don't have to be friends anymore or anything if you don't want to, I just really need to know that you're okay. Please give me something. Anything. Bye.

Arizona sighed. The distress in the brunette's voice was painfully clear to Arizona. The fact that Callie didn't regret the kiss, made Arizona smile for just a second. And the brunette didn't misread anything. Arizona had liked it. Very much actually.

The blonde reopened her conversation with Callie. This time she got a 'Hi' typed out, before her finger once again hovered over the keys. Then she closed the conversation without sending anything once again. Arizona groaned as she slammed her phone down on the breakfast counter and made her way to her family out on the patio.

* * *

Callie sat on her bed at her parents' house staring at her phone. She'd just left yet another heartfelt voicemail to the blonde begging for her to let Callie know she was okay. But still nothing happened.

The brunette was at her wit's end. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She even resolved to calling Addison several times today to ask if her and Teddy had heard ANYTHING from the blonde. Callie couldn't believe she'd been such an idiot. What had she been thinking? She couldn't just go kissing her best friends. Now she'd single handedly ruined their friendship. Those last five days without a word from the blonde spoke loud and clear about that. Callie was never making any rash decisions while under the influence of alcohol ever again.

The brunette was brought out of her musings by a knock on her door. When Callie had let whoever was on the other side of the door know, that it was okay to enter, Jael popped her head in. "Hey big-C. What are you doing?"

Callie smiled at her sister's nickname for her. "Nothing much. Just going through some emails while having a minute to myself. You?"

"Do you want me to leave?" the younger brunette asked. But as Callie shook her head, Jael entered the room and closed the door behind her. "I was supposed to watch the new episode of 'Vampire Diaries' with Rei and we wanted to know if you would join us?" Callie just looked at her sister like she'd grown another head.

"Relax, I'm kidding!" Jael burst out laughing at the expression on her older sister's face. "We know you hate that show. Rei's BFF called with some sort of crisis, just as we were about to start it, which means I probably won't see her for another hour. And then I thought what better use of my time than some one on one with my big sister." The younger woman said as she sat down next to Callie on the bed.

Callie smiled brightly at her sister. In her eyes Jael was by far the prettiest of the sisters. Her eyes had a lighter more unique brown color than the rest of them. Her cheekbones were high and prominent and she had a slightly slimmer figure while still keeping the Latina traits with hips, ass and boobs. Jael had a lot of similarities with Aria, physique-wise, and when they were younger they were sometimes mistaken for each other, but the eyes really made a difference to Callie.

Jael eyed her big sister for a moment before saying "are you really okay? Or are you just pretending to be to appease all of us. Because you don't have to, you know. You just…you look kind of sad Callie. I can see it in your eyes. Is it still the break from Mark? Because that is totally okay, hermanita."

The older brunette looked at her sister for a moment before looking down at the phone in her hands. Jael had always been the wild child of the family. The fact that it seemed Jael had to try everything in life at least once drove Callie crazy, and she'd spent a lot of time worrying about her little sister during the younger brunette's teenage years. She still did. But maybe this was the first time that Jael's way of life would come in handy to the oldest Torres-girl.

Callie looked back up at Jael. "Can I ask you something without you asking me why I want to know or judging me if your answer to my question is no?"

"Of course Callie. You can ask me anything. Always. And I won't judge or ask questions, I promise," Jael sincerely stated.

The older brunette took a deep breath. "Have you ever kissed a woman?"

Jael's jaw dropped. She had never in a million years dreamed of that question, and she could only guess why her big sister wanted to know. "Callie, why…"

"You promised!" the older Torres sister exclaimed as she pointed her finger at Jael, who stared back at her with wide eyes.

Jael's expression softened and she smiled at her sister. "Yes I have. More than once actually. And I really liked it, which is why I did it again. Heck I did it last weekend. It's softer somehow. Different than with guys - who are also awesome to kiss by the way" the younger brunette said before putting her hand on her older sister's arm. "I know I promised not to ask and I'm not going to. But I have a feeling this wasn't a random question, but has to do with your sadness. You can talk to me, you know."

Callie looked down and started playing with her phone. "I did something Jael. And it turned out to be really stupid." The oldest brunette sighed before she continued "you know Arizona Robbins, the new actress on the show? I've been hanging out with her a lot, and we've gotten really close. A while ago I saw her almost naked during a scene, and I became kind of attracted to her physique. Her body is out of this world" Jael couldn't help but smirk as her big sister described the other woman's physical features "and then at the Christmas party her and I were alone on the balcony, and she started saying all these nice things about me, she had been complimenting me from time to time for a while actually, and I don't know how or why, but I suddenly realized, that I was attracted to all of her. Because she's amazing. And all I could think about was to kiss her, so I did"

The brunette took a break and looked at her sister who just smiled at her, encouraging her to go on. "And she kissed me back, and it was…Oh God Jael, it was mind-blowing. Easily the best first kiss of my life, maybe the best kiss period. But then she panicked and left. And that was five days ago. And she's in Georgia to spend the holidays with her family. I have been calling and texting her nonstop. I just want to know that she's alright. But she's shut me out completely even though I keep apologizing. And sometimes I don't even know why I'm apologizing. Because I don't regret it. And it might have been me who initiated it, but she was the one to deepened it. She was the one, who slipped HER tongue into MY mouth. Why would she do that only to leave and then ignore me for five days." Callie's gaze flicked to her phone once again as she finished her rant, and combed one of her hands through her hair.

Jael looked at her sister with sympathy. She could see the tears rise in her sister's eyes. The younger brunette reached out and took one of her sister's hands in her own. "Look at me Callie" Jael softly stated, but when nothing happened she lowered her head to catch her sister's eyes. "Look at me, Big-C." The older brunette lifted her gaze to meet her sister's. She saw nothing but love and understanding in Jael's eyes, and she had never been as grateful for the 22-year old as she was in this moment. "You did nothing wrong. I'm sure you just caught her by surprise. I'm guessing you might be the first woman she kissed too, and maybe she's dealing with that a little different than you. I've spent 22 years looking up to you, and from my experience with studying you I can tell, that you really like her. And that's probably the reason you feel such need to call and text her all the time. I get that you want to make sure she's alright, but I think you need to give her some space. Leave her alone and let her process. Then maybe send her a Merry Christmas text or something. And maybe one at New Year's too. But let her deal with this her own way Callie. And if she liked it as much as you felt she did, she will come to you."

Callie smiled sadly at her sister. "But she's my best friend. I miss her. I just want to go back to the way things were. If it had been anyone else I kissed she was the one I would have talked to about it."

Jael gave her sister a brilliant smile. "Well as long as you're here for the holidays, you can talk to me. Share all your thoughts with me. And luckily our daddy-o equipped me with a phone, which means that when you go back to LA you can call me and tell me how you feel. I'll ALWAYS listen Big-C, I promise."

Callie pulled her sister to her by her shoulder. "Thank you Jael. I'm so thankful and lucky to have you. And not only because you also prance around kissing girls!"

Jael laughed. "Really I'm the lucky one. Because the world has never seen a better big sister than you. And I know for a fact that Aria and Rei agree with me. I'm just happy you confided in me Callie. I know I come across as young and stupid, but I actually think that I can provide some really good advice once in a while."

Callie gave her sister a genuine smile. "I know you can. Thank you."

The duo was interrupted by Callie's phone who notified her with a text. The text was from Addison and Callie opened it right away.

 _*Arizona just texted Teddy. Apparently she's been very busy and then she misplaced her phone. But all is well in Georgia. She said she would get in touch with you, so definitely not ignoring you. Enjoy your holiday Callie. – Addison_

'Well that was the next best thing' Callie thought to herself.

* * *

It was Christmas morning and Arizona woke up first thing as she always did on this day. She smiled at the thought of what the day held. She took her phone from the nightstand and looked at it. No messages. She hadn't heard from Callie for the past three days. It was relieving for the blonde, but at the same time she was worried for brunette. Was she okay?

The blonde made her way out of bed and down the stairs. In the kitchen she found her mother cooking breakfast. "Hi mom. Merry Christmas" Arizona said as she placed a kiss on her mother's cheek. "Where are dad and Tim?"

"Merry Christmas Honey. Your dad is out for a quick run and Tim isn't here yet. He's probably still sleeping." Barbara said while she looked at her daughter checking her phone for messages. The woman took a cup and filled it with coffee for the younger woman. Then she turned back to the stove. "Did you sleep okay?" When she didn't receive an answer, she turned to her daughter once again and found her sitting there staring at her phone.

"Are you expecting a call from someone?" Barbara asked her daughter as she snapped her fingers in front of her face.

Arizona was a little startled at her mother's action. "No. It's just…I haven't heard from Callie for three days, and I'm kind of worried. I know it's silly because I didn't answer when she tried to get in touch with me and now that she doesn't, I kind of miss it."

"Well did you text her back?" Barbara asked her daughter who just hang her head in shame as she shook her head. "Then maybe she got sick of trying." The woman watched as her daughter's face fell at those words.

With the vibration of her phone on the breakfast bar however, Arizona looked to her phone. And this time Barbara watched as a small smile crept its way on her daughters face as she read the text.

* * *

Callie had woken up really early on Christmas day. Which was odd, because she never woke up early. She lay there for an hour just looking at her ceiling and thinking. Then when she deemed it appropriate she'd sent Arizona a very neutral 'Merry Christmas' text.

Now she was on her way to Jael's room. Callie needed her sister's help. She slowly opened the door and found a snoozing sister spread eagle on her bed. The brunette tiptoed to her sister bed and whispered "Merry Christmas, hermanita."

Jael stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed them a little before really tuning in on her big sister. "Merry Christmas Big-C. What time is it?"

Callie stepped back a little before announcing "It's 6.30"

Jael sat up in bed in a flash grabbing her phone on the way. "6.30?! Jesus Callie, why are you waking me up this early?"

Callie smiled at her sister. "I lay in bed this morning thinking, and then I had an idea, and I really need your help, because you know everyone. And I also need you to tell me if it's a good idea or if I lost my mind."

Jael yawned and scooted over in bed to make room for her sister. "Well, tell me then."

* * *

It was New Year's Eve and the entire Robbins family had spent the night at the diner with a large amount of their friends. Arizona had had the best night and she'd really enjoyed hanging out with Tim and their old high school friends again. As midnight neared they all made their way to the town's main, and practically only, street for the count down with the rest of the small town's 400 citizens.

Just as the inhabitants of Little Creek had toasted in the New Year, a stranger approached Arizona. "Excuse me. You're Ms. Robbins, right?" Arizona looked at the man and nodded her head prepared to be asked for another autograph, but instead the man pulled out a small envelope from his jacket. "Great. Then this is for you. But I was told you should wait to open it. Enjoy the show." With that he turned on his heel and left the blonde alone with her family.

"What's going on?" Tim asked his sister. Arizona had no idea what was about to happen, but she had a feeling who was behind this.

"I don't know" Arizona answered as she looked at her brother and parents. Just as she finished her statement the beaming voice of one Callie Torres sounded from the speakers in the small street.

"Happy New Year everyone. I'm Callie Torres. I hope you've all enjoyed the holidays, and I really hope, you've taken good care of our favorite Dr. Carter these last few weeks. But I feel certain that you have, because Arizona has spoken nothing but highly about all of you. I really hope that I don't interrupt the calmness of Little Creek too much with this, if so then please forgive me. I just don't think anything should be missing on a night like this. It should be perfect. Arizona, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for not forcing me to watch 'The Princess Diaries' – again. Consider this my gift to you."

All the citizens of Little Creek turned their head to look at the blonde actress. Arizona just shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what the brunette was talking about. But just as she finished her thoughts, the sky exploded in various colors, as rockets of all sizes where sent to the air simultaneously. The rest of the town guided their attention from Arizona towards the sky. Arizona was in awe as the fireworks continued. It was absolutely amazing and she'd never seen anything like it. It had to have cost Callie a small fortune.

The blonde felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced over it momentarily before looking back at the sky. She felt her mother lean in and whisper softly in her ear. "She's a very thoughtful woman, honey. And she knows you well" Barbara patted Arizona's shoulder one last time and left her daughter to enjoy the show. The blonde woman was spellbound by the sight before her, and her heart sored at the thought of Callie doing something like this for her despite the fact, that Arizona had ignored her all through the holidays.

When the fireworks came to an end fifteen minutes later, the citizens took their time standing on the street, talking about what just happened and whishing each other a happy New Year. Arizona slowly traced her finger underneath the top of the envelope and took out a small and neatly folded note.

 _Happy New Year, Arizona.  
I really hope you liked my surprise and you didn't think it was too much.  
I pray you didn't open this note beforehand and stopped everything because it was from me.  
I just wanted tonight to be perfect for you. You deserved that.  
I wish I could've been there to experience it with you, but I felt it best not to take you up on your offer for me to spend New Year's in Little Creek due to the circumstances. I took your radio silence as a sign that you'd agree with me on this.  
I'm devastated with how things are between us and I wish we could just go back to the way they were.  
Once again I'm so sorry.  
Please forgive me. I miss you.  
Callie_

Tim came up and put an arm around his sister's shoulder just as she put the note away. "Wow, I guess it really pays of to be friends with a super star, huh? And I can't believe you forced Callie freaking Torres to watch that stupid movie with you."

Arizona turned her attention to Tim. "She's a good friend. And it was my turn to pick out the movie. She forced me to watch Saw. That's not better in any way." The blonde woman offered her brother a smile.

"She's clearly the BEST friend ever. I can't believe she did that. It was freaking perfect. Little Creek has never seen anything like it. Nothing was missing." the blonde man voiced.

Arizona clutched the note in her pocket and couldn't help the feeling that crept up on her and for just a brief second she allowed herself to think that Tim was wrong. Something, or more specific someone, had been missing on this otherwise perfect night in Little Creek.

 **That's it for chapter 10.**

 **I hope it didn't disappoint. And I hope you liked getting to meet their families and getting to know little bit about their relationship with them.**

 **Let me know what you think - I feed off your reviews.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	11. Chapter 11

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again Guys :)**

 **Here's chapter 11 for you. I know some of you have waited impatiently for this, but I just had some things I had to take care of these last few days that didn't allow me to update until now :)**

 **Calzonafan123: I know it seems selfish. But Arizona dealt with the whole thing very differently from Callie.**

 **Jolynn15: THANK YOU! I'm super flattered at that :) I'll do my best not to disappoint you down the road :D**

 **Generally to all of your reviews: Thank you – you are amazing. I'm so happy you like my story, and my writing. I wouldn't continue this without readers, so I hope you all continue to read and review. Then I'll continue to write ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

CHAPTER 11:

Callie groaned and reached out to turn off her alarm, when it sounded out through her bedroom at 5 am, before turning to lie on her back staring at the ceiling. It was January 3rd and Christmas break was officially over. The brunette had returned to LA yesterday afternoon. She'd decided to spend New Year's Eve in Miami and actually ended up going out with Jael and Aria, just the three of them. The trio had had so much fun and even though Callie's fame made it difficult to blend in with the rest of the world, they had been dancing and partying relatively undisturbed.

They had arrived home at 6 in the morning and Callie had fallen asleep between her two sisters in Jael's room. Only to be woken up at 8.30 by the youngest Torres, that hadn't been okay with the fact that her three sisters went out without her the night before. She had deemed January 1st 'Rei-day' and apparently it started first thing. The four sisters had enjoyed a leisurely day by the pool and later in the movie den with lots of unhealthy snacks.

When Callie left Miami yesterday she felt recharged. She was still kind of dejected that she hadn't heard anything from Arizona, not even after her surprise on New Year's Eve, but her numerous talks with Jael had helped. The blonde was clearly dealing with the whole thing differently, and Callie had to respect that. Right now though, she was nervous. She couldn't remember being this nervous since her wedding day. Even though the brunette didn't have scenes with Arizona today, the possibility of seeing her was definitely present.

And Callie WANTED to see her to be honest. She wanted to hear all about the blonde's Christmas and New Year. She wanted to ask her if she liked the surprise. And she wanted to see for herself that Arizona was okay. But she'd done what she could to patch things up between herself and the blonde. The ball was on Arizona's court now. Callie groaned and rolled out of bed. She put on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless top and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast.

* * *

Vacation was over. That much Arizona knew. She'd just spent an hour getting her ass whopped by Andy in the gym. Only Owen and her had been present for the first workout of the year, and Andy had taken advantage of that and made them do some sort of military inspired drill. Arizona had complained loudly and continuously about seemingly being punished because the rest of the guys didn't get their lazy butts to the gym. But Andy had just laughed and told her that maybe if she hadn't practically stopped her training for the past three weeks while eating all sorts of delicious food, this morning's workout would have been a piece of cake.

The blonde had seriously doubted that even though the trainer was right, but she'd felt less flabby when she'd seen Owen struggle to keep up as well. Apparently she wasn't the only one that had taken a little break from the daily work outs. After a quick shower she was now on her way to the makeup trailer. She stopped dead in her tracks when she entered. Sitting in one of the chairs was Callie. She was laughing at something Petra had just told her, but the laughter died instantly as the blonde entered. Chocolate brown orbs connected with the blonde's blue ones. The connection wasn't long though because Arizona quickly removed her gaze from the brunette's.

Arizona was surprised by the brunette's present. She could've sworn that when she and Callie talked before Christmas about their schedules this first day back, Callie had told her she didn't have to get in before 10 am. But here she was at 6.30.

"Hey Arizona. Welcome back. Did you have a merry Christmas?" Petra asked cheerfully. The blonde smiled in return and sat down in one of the chairs. She purposely left an empty chair between herself and Callie.

"Yeah it was really good. I'd missed my parents and brother and it was so good to see them again. It was an amazing Christmas and New Year" the blonde glanced briefly at Callie. "What about you?" the blonde asked the makeup artist.

Petra smiled at the blonde as she continued to apply makeup on the brunette's face. "Definitely merry. Spent it with my boyfriend and his family for the first time, and that was quite the experience. His family is something else let me tell you that. But it was really fun."

The blonde laughed a little and looked at Callie again. "Hi Callie" she breathed out. The brunette looked at her intensely and the blonde could see the hurt, confusion and distance in the expressive brown eyes.

"Hi Arizona." Callie said as she looked towards the mirror again and closed her eyes for Petra.

Arizona didn't know what to do. It was clearly very awkward and she was sure that the both of them would rather be anywhere else. She had to say something or Petra would definitely pick up that something was amiss between the two of them. "How was New Year's?" the blonde tried.

"It was really good actually. I ended up just spending it with Aria and Jael and I can't remember the last time I had such a fun night" the brunette answered honestly and Arizona couldn't help but be a little hurt at that comment. "Yours?" Callie asked pointedly and turned to look the blonde dead in the eyes.

Arizona gulped. She knew what Callie wanted her to say. She just couldn't. "It was good. Really good actually. Kind of perfect." It was all the blonde could give the brunette at the moment, and she desperately hoped it would suffice.

The blonde felt a little relieved when she saw a small smile tuck at the brunette's mouth.

"Okay, you're all set, Callie." Petra announced. "Go rock the redoing of your reaction shots"

With that Callie got out of her chair. She looked at the blonde apprehensively. "Will I see you sometime later today?"

Arizona looked back and gave Callie a somewhat dejected smile. "I don't know. Maybe. I don't know."

The brunette just sighed and nodded. She was about to make her way to the exit when a pale hand caught her wrist. "Wait. I…Bring me coffee on set 3 at 9?"

The brunette nodded her head and withdrew her wrist from the blonde's grasp. "I'll see you then."

* * *

Arizona made her way onto the set. Her first scene was with Mark and the blonde had to admit, that she'd really missed the guy during the past three weeks.

When she entered she spotted Mark in conversation with Addison. They smiled at her when she approached them. "Hi guys. Hope you enjoyed your holiday" Arizona said as she hugged both of them briefly.

"Teddy and I sure did. It was really nice with some time off. I hadn't noticed how much we needed it until it was there" the red head said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, is she here yet? I haven't really talked to her during the holiday, and I'd like to catch up." Arizona sent Addison a bright smile.

"She's not here yet. But I'll tell her to go find you once she gets here." Addison turned to Mark. "Just please oversee the tapas getting here at 8.30. Your schedule says you don't have to shoot until noon on the 12th. It'll give you plenty of time to do that before they'll start announcing the nominations at 10. I have a meeting at 8.00 which means I can't do it."

Mark huffed. "Fiiiiiine. But only because it's for Cal. You'll make sure the champagne is here?"

The red head smiled "Yep, it's taken care of. And all of it will be in the kitchen at the cafeteria until we know if she's nominated. I also arranged a small surprise for her which she'll get regardless." Addison smiled at the both of them "I'll let you two get a chance to catch up a little before you start shooting."

"Hey Addison, you'll let me know if I can do anything to help, right? With the nominations-arrangement?" Arizona asked. The red head smiled at the blonde "Of course. Thank you." And then Addison made her way out of the set.

Mark put his arm around the blonde. "And then they were two" the man said. "How was your Christmas blondie?"

Arizona looked at Mark and smiled. "Very, very good. I'd really missed being home at my parents. Although it was a whole new experience, being on TV and all. I was no longer just a regular girl form Little Creek I was Arizona Robbins, TV-star from Little Creek. That took some adjusting. But it was nice. Even though I hate to admit it, I kind of missed you though," the blonde gave Mark a bright, sincere smile.

Mark laughed and pulled Arizona close to him. "I missed you too, Arizona."

The door to the set opened and Callie walked through. "Am I interrupting anything?" she cautiously asked.

Mark smiled at her and waved for her to come in. "Of course not Cal. Come on in."

The brunette made her way to the duo. She couldn't help but let her eyes flicker to the blonde for a second. Then she turned her attention back to Mark. "I have the papers for you here. I've read through them, and they are exactly like we asked. I've signed them already. Just look them over, sign them and leave them in my trailer or give them to me or whatever, and I'll hand them over to my lawyer. If there's anything you'd like to have changed or anything, then just come see me and we'll talk about it" Callie said as she pulled out a stack of papers from her purse.

Mark smirked at the brunette. "Divorce papers as a belated Christmas present. That's classy Cal."

Callie could tell the man was joking but it still stung. Especially because it wasn't her decision. "Well the notification of the divorce was a pre birthday present for me, remember?" she fired back.

Mark recoiled at the brunette's words. "Jesus Cal, I was only joking. I'm sorry."

Callie sighed and felt a pang of regret. "No Mark, I'm sorry. I know you were. It's just…" she shifted her gaze to Arizona for a split second before looking back at Mark. "I've got a lot on my mind. And even though I'm still sad it had to end between us, I just want to get it over with and get on with my life."

Mark sent the brunette a wink "Oh you've already got your eye on someone new, huh?"

The brunette couldn't help the small blush that crept up her neck and cheeks. "Not really. But for all official purposes I'm still Callie Sloan even though we haven't been together for a while now. And I've gotten used to that, finally. And I don't want to be tied to you anymore." Callie gave Mark a small smile.

It hadn't even occurred to her, in the moment she kissed Arizona, that she was still married to Mark. She didn't feel like a cheater. Technically she had been though, and she hadn't even thought about it until Jael asked if her divorce with Mark was final. The younger brunette had spent a lot of time reassuring her big sister, that kissing Arizona did not make her a cheater, because her and Mark were over. But Callie couldn't help but feel a little guilty, and she'd called her lawyer first chance she got to get him to speed up the process with the papers.

"I's okay, Cal. I get it. I'll look at them as soon as possible, okay? Maybe we should do dinner once they're signed? As friends." Mark sympathetically stated.

The brunette smiled gratefully at her soon to be ex-husband. "Thank you. And that would be nice, I'd like that. Anyway I'm going to go. I have more reaction shots to redo. I just wanted to give them to you. See you later Mark." The brunette smiled at the man. "Arizona" Callie nodded her head Arizona's way before making her way out of the set.

"What was that all about? She barely acknowledged your existence? Is she okay?" Mark asked the blonde.

Arizona looked at the man. "It's no big deal. We've just been a little off. But it's nothing. We'll figure it out soon enough. And I think she is, but like she said, she's got a lot on her mind. Nothing too big, don't worry." The blonde knew she'd just lied to Mark. But she couldn't really tell him anything.

Mark smiled at Arizona. "Okay good. I just want her to be happy. She really deserves that. Please make nice with her. She's really blossomed in her friendship with you."

The blonde smiled at the man and his thoughtfulness towards the brunette. "Don't worry, I will. I'm having coffee with her at 9. We're not enemies or anything. And she is happy. She's just got a lot on her mind."

At that the duo made their way to the director, who'd just entered the set.

* * *

At exactly 9 o'clock Callie once again made her way through the doors of set number 3 with two cups of coffee in her hands. She smiled at Mark who was on his way to the exit. "Enjoy your break, Mark."

"Thanks Cal. Enjoy coffee with blondie" the man smiled back.

The brunette slowly approached the blonde who stood of too side fiddling with her hands, and Callie couldn't help but to be entertained by the blonde's nervousness. She was glad to see, that the blonde wasn't totally indifferent to their situation, and the brunette felt a sense of relief in the fact that maybe she wasn't the only one, who desperately wanted to mend their friendship.

Callie handed Arizona her latté when she came up next to her. The blonde took the coffee with a grateful smile and took a couple of small sips. The two of them stood there for what felt like ages to the brunette without anyone saying anything. Arizona had been the one who suggested she brought coffee, and Callie had decided to wait for the blonde to take the reins. She didn't though and as five minutes had passed by with nothing but a few stolen glances at each other the brunette couldn't take it anymore. "You need to say something Arizona."

Arizona peeked up at Callie who had an aggravated look on her face. "I'm not sure I can tell you what you want to hear" the blonde let out with a whisper.

"Trust me I don't care what you say. We're way past that. You can tell me that you hate Brussels sprouts and I will be happy with that. I just need some sort of sign that my efforts to mend this friendship isn't a losing battle" Callie let out exasperated. "I've tried so hard to get some sort of reaction from you for the last 3 weeks, and I'm done. Not even the fireworks at New Years could crack your apparently very thick wall. I don't have any fight left in me, Arizona. If you don't want to be friends with me anymore, then please just say so. I can take it. I will be unhappy about it, but I can take it."

The brunette looked to the blonde who just stood there looking at the coffee in her hand. Callie sighed and groaned in frustration.

"I can't keep being the one who apologizes Arizona. I don't even know WHY I'm apologizing. You kissed me back! With tongue! I'm sorry that this whole mess has apparently thrown you in a loop, but I'm not sorry for kissing you. Because I liked it. And you kind of gave the vibes that you did too." Callie let out in exasperation. "If you don't want to talk about it then that's okay, but just please tell me if we could maybe be friends? I miss you. And I know it's weird, because I just admitted to like kissing you, but can we at least try. I'm not stupid I know it can't be like it used to, but I would really like to keep you as a friend. To keep you in my life, and not be cut of yours like I was only pastime to you." Blue eyes connected with brown at those last words.

For a few seconds Arizona just stood there. Her mom had been right. Callie had gotten sick of trying. And Arizona only had herself to blame for that. "Don't think that Callie. You have never just been pastime for me. And I'm sorry. But I just didn't know what to do with myself. I still don't know. I'm sorry I didn't react like you wanted me to, but I couldn't help it. I'd really like to still be friends with you. But maybe we should start small again. Like with coffee once a week. And then just take it from there. Then we'll know when or if we reach the limit of what we're both comfortable with" Arizona suggested.

The blonde took a deep breath "and thank you Callie. For New Year's Eve. It was absolutely breathtaking and I've never seen anything like it. I don't even dare imagine how much money you've had to pay to arrange something like that for me. And then at a time when I clearly didn't deserve it because I was an awful friend. But just know that I really enjoyed it. And so did the rest of Little Creek. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." The blonde sent Callie a genuine smile.

Callie blew out a puff of air. "You're welcome. You and you wellbeing were, are, important to me. And I can never put a price on making you happy. Like I said I'm sorry it's been so difficult for you to deal with this. And even though I don't regret it, I'm not sure I would have kissed you if I'd known how you would react to it. I don't ever want you to be unhappy. And I just wanted to make sure that New Year's was everything you've dreamed of. That at least that was easy and perfect. I can't say that I don't hope that in time we'll reach the friendship we had. Because I really treasured that. But you just threw me aside like I was nothing because of one little sidestep. And I really missed you during the holiday. I felt like I had no one to talk to and you have no idea how awful that felt. But it's fine. Let's start over and see where the Callie-Arizona-Friendship-2.0 is headed. That sounds good to you?"

Arizona looked at the crestfallen brunette in front of her and felt instantly guilty. She had clearly ruined Callie's Christmas with her cold behavior and she hadn't even considered it. Sure her mom had kind of told her, that Callie needed to hear from her, but Arizona hadn't really thought about how the brunette must be feeling.

The blonde acted on instinct as she took a step forward and threw her arms around the brunette. She hugged Callie tightly. "I'm so sorry Callie. I'm sorry you felt alone and rejected. I should have taken your feelings into consideration more than I did. I've been an awful friend to you. I promise that 2.0 Arizona will be better."

Callie couldn't help but breathe in the blonde as she had her head on her shoulder. She was disappointed and mad at Arizona. But at the same time she was happy to once again have the blonde close to her. And even though Arizona hadn't once addressed the kiss or reacted to the fact that Callie had admitted to liking it, at least the blonde was talking to her again. "It's okay" came the muffled reply from the brunette "I know you didn't mean to. You had a lot going on."

Arizona released Callie and stepped back a little. "We both did." The blonde looked at the brunette for a second before saying "You've got to go. If my memory doesn't fail me, you've got scenes soon. Thanks for coffee and the talk. It was nice."

Callie smiled at Arizona. "It was. And your memory is correct. I have scenes in ten minutes. I'll see you later. Or maybe tomorrow. Whichever" the brunette let out not wanting to pressure the blonde.

Arizona returned the smile and watched as Callie left the set. She buried her head in her hands and sighed loudly. That had been awkward and tension filled. The clearing of a throat brought her out of her funk. She looked up to find a smiling Teddy Altman studying her. The blonde perked up instantly and hugged her friend. "Teddy! It's so good to see you. How was your holiday?"

Teddy returned the hug and smiled at the blonde as they parted. "It was really good. We spent the Christmas at my parents, then visited Addison's parents for a few days once we got back to LA, had our New Year's Eve party and then spent January 1st and 2nd stark naked at home." Teddy smirked as she said that last part.

Arizona made a face in return. "Ugh Teddy, I don't need to know that! Now I can't sit anywhere in your living room anymore. I'll have images of your naked ass everywhere."

Teddy laughed and Arizona joined her. "By the way, you are an awful friend Teddy! How come Callie got invited to your New Year's Eve party and I didn't?" Arizona added as she playfully hit Teddy on the shoulder.

"Ow, Arizona. I knew that you were going to spend it in Georgia, because you told me, remember. And we didn't know if Callie had anywhere to be since her and Mark weren't together anymore. Mark told Addison that he was going to their friends' house, and we didn't know if Callie felt like spending New Year's with him this year. But I think she ended up staying in Miami" Teddy said.

Arizona smiled at Teddy. "Yeah she mentioned something about going out with her sisters for New Year's when I talked to her this morning."

The honey-blonde looked at Arizona with questioning eyes. "This morning? I thought the two of you had at least whished each other a happy New Year. Is something going on? Was that why you stood there with you head in your hands when I entered?"

Arizona looked at the floor before looking up at Teddy again. "We just had kind of a falling out before we separated for the holiday. But it's all good now" the blonde smiled.

"Oh. That's why she thought you were ignoring her during Christmas? What happened?" Teddy asked with concern.

Arizona smiled. "Nothing. It's not important anymore. Tell me more about your Christmas instead."

A bright smile broke out on Teddy's face as she started recounting the Christmas morning her lover arranged for her and her parents.

* * *

Callie made her way across the trailer area. She couldn't hold back a little yawn. The first day back had been grueling. She'd had to get here early to redo some reaction shots for a past scene and then she'd had a full day of filming a new scene with Nathan and Jo. She'd had fun with her two colleagues, but she was tired none the less.

She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of heels on the pavement and saw Addison jogging towards her. "Hey Callie. Look at you and your perfect Miami tan!" the red head exclaimed as she reached her friend.

Callie smiled. "Hey Addison. And yeah I spend some time at the pool during break. But Petra was ready to kill me, when she had to pale me up a little for the redo of the reaction shots for the scene I shot before Christmas."

Addison chuckled a little. "Yeah well, Petra needs to be challenged sometimes" the red head winked at the brunette. "How was holiday season? You look kind of tired" Addison stated with a bit of concern in her voice.

Callie smiled at her friend. "It was really great. I had so much fun with the clan, and I actually spend a lot of time with Jael. That was nice. And I AM tired, but only because I've been here for close to 16 hours today. It's quite the wake up from vacation."

"Yeah I know what you mean. I really enjoyed having some time off. Teddy and I spent the last two days of vacation just lazing around and having sex everywhere in our apartment. I was ready to quit my job when my alarm went off this morning, and I had to leave her in bed." Addison said.

"ADDISON!" Callie said with wide eyes and a disgusted face. "I don't want to know about that, thank you very much. I visit you from time to time remember. I don't want to chance eating somewhere I know you to have been going at it" the brunette stated with a serious face.

The red head smirked at her friend. "Well maybe stay clear of the dining room table for a while then. You know until we get it disinfected again, because believe me…"

Callie quickly interrupted her friend. "Okay enough of that. Tell me more about your Christmas. You know the stuff that doesn't involve doing your girlfriend on the dining room table" the brunette deadpanned.

Addison giggled. "Don't be such a prude Callie. I know you and Mark didn't just have vanilla sex. And Christmas was amazing. It was so unbelievable nice to have some down time with Teddy. To just be able to spend every waking moment focusing on her. Especially after the break up and everything that had been going on" the red head solemnly said.

The brunette smiled compassionately at her friend "I can imagine that was nice. You guys needed it"

"Yeah we sure did" the red head smiled back. "Anyway I actually meant to talk to you. I just wanted to tell you, that I've booked the screening room for the 12th" Addison said as she eyes her friend carefully.

It took a moment for the brunette to catch up with what the red head was really telling her. Then her face scrunched up. "Addisoooon! Why?" Callie whined. "It's just a normal day. No big deal!"

"You've got to be kidding me, Callie Torres?" Addison said as she put her hands on her hips. "It is NOT a normal day. You might be getting nominated for an Academy Award! Do you have any idea how remarkable that is? And it's nothing big. I just booked the screening room and told the cast and crew to halt shooting and be there at 10 for the announcements."

Callie eyed her friend suspiciously. "That's it?"

Addison smiled at Callie. "That's it."

"You promise?" the brunette questioned. The red head looked down at that question and Callie huffed out in frustration "What did you do, Addison?"

The red head quickly looked up at her friend again. "It's nothing big, I promise. And it's only if you get the nomination. Just relax and enjoy it Callie. Please. You're my friend, and I want to show you that I'm so proud of you. Everyone on 'Heart and Hospital' is."

Callie's expression softened and she smiled at her friend. "Okay. I'll try to enjoy it. But you know it will be really awkward if I don't get it right. With everyone there to see my failure."

Addison lopped her arm through Callie's. "No matter what, you're not a failure Callie. And the rumors are there for a reason. You are absolutely brilliant in that movie. If you don't get the nomination it will be the biggest snub in history."

The brunette laughed. "Don't really know about that. But thank you. For everything. I wouldn't have been where I am today if it wasn't for you, Ads."

The red head bumped her friends shoulder. "Don't be too sure about that. Someone else would have snatched you up. But I wouldn't be mad if you mentioned me in your acceptance speech."

Callie chuckled "I can do that. But IF I get nominated I highly doubt that I get the chance to use my acceptance speech."

Addison let go of Callie's arm. "Don't sell yourself short Callie." The red head sent her friend a brilliant smile. "I have to go home now if I'm going to avoid falling asleep in the parking lot. I'll see you tomorrow super star."

The brunette waved at her friend and made her way to her own car. She couldn't help but be a little nervous, and slightly timid, about how the 12th would proceed.

 **That's the end of chapter 11. I hope you liked it.**

 **As always: let me know how you felt about it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	12. Chapter 12

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Here's chapter 12 for you now before going to bed as I probably won't have the time to upload it tomorrow or Saturday. You are all very invested in this story (I LOVE that btw) and I couldn't leave you hanging on such a depressed note until Sunday. So here you go!**

 **Some of you (all of you probably) are really upset and frustrated with Arizona (and me) as far as her behavior and reactions go. I get that it is selfish and unfair to Callie, but Arizona's CLEARLY not dealing with it all very well and her first instinct is to push Callie away. And I actually think that is understandable. It is kind of her whole life that is changing and she is discovering who she is all over again. And that will affect her. But I hope this chapter will redeem her a little – and get back some of my goodwill with you guys ;) At least at the end.**

 **I think you guys are amazing and I really appreciate you and your commitment to this story!**

 **Also it's like some of you could've written this story. You have the exact same thoughts as me. I have no idea whether that is good or bad. And Guest Reader, you are going to like this chapter for sure! ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

CHAPTER 12:

'It's just a normal day, it's just a normal day, it's just a normal day' Callie repeated the words over and over in her head as she approached the studio. Today was January 12th and the brunette was a nervous wreck. She hated, that Addison had sorted for everyone to watch the announcement live in the screening room. It's not that she didn't appreciate the gesture, because she did. She just didn't want every single one of her colleagues standing there if her name wasn't among the nominated actresses. Then Addison and maybe Mark and Arizona would have sufficed.

It was 9.30 am and in a couple of hours she would either be an Academy Award nominee or totally defeated. Callie walked through the doors of the lobby and smiled at Nicole behind the reception desk. Nicole gave the brunette a huge smile in return. "Good morning Callie! Big day today, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe. It all depends on how things turn out I guess" the brunette replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well good luck. And you're going to get it, I can feel it." Nicole nodded her head with certainty as the brunette made her way to the elevators.

Callie smiled in return and made her way in the elevator. She pressed the button for the second floor which held the screening room and used her time in the elevator to try and calm her nerves. As the door opened she stepped out. Just as she passed by one of the conference rooms a laughing Teddy and Arizona exited it.

"Oh hey Callie. How are you feeling today?" the honey-blonde asked with a big smile.

Callie gave an uneasy face. "Nervous as hell. Intimidated as hell" she said as she let out a breath. "I'm really afraid I won't get nominated. And at the same time I'm really afraid I will get nominated. It's really confusing. I'm not in this for the awards. I don't actually like those ceremonies. They are usually long and uncomfortable. And I'm just me. I'm just lucky enough to do what I love. I honestly don't know how anyone could ever think that my performance can match the likes of Brithany Harper, Noelle Jenkins or Maria Garcia" Callie listed three of the biggest actresses in the industry.

The brunette turned her gaze to Arizona as the blonde spoke up. "You're AMAZING at what you do, Callie. Your performance can absolutely match theirs. No doubt about it."

Callie smiled at the blonde. "Thank you, Arizona."

The duo had really been trying to mend their friendship and had shared a few coffees together since coming back from Christmas break. But their meetings had been awkward and the friendship didn't work at all. It was very clear that they both held back, and Callie had a feeling that they were both waiting for the other woman to voice the subject.

Sometimes lately Callie found herself really angry with the blonde. The mere thought of her could be enough to make Callie's blood boil. Because what the fuck? Arizona's reaction to everything had not been okay. This had been hard and confusing to Callie too, but still she'd spent a huge amount of time trying to make sure, that the blonde was okay, and it didn't seem like Arizona had been the least bit worried for her. And ignoring her for three whole weeks wasn't okay. That made the brunette angry. And sad. Because no matter what she did or how she felt, she couldn't shake the fact that she REALLY liked the blonde who stood before her. The kiss had changed everything for the brunette and she was now fully aware of the amount of affection she felt for the blonde. But she could table that. And she could be friends with her. Hopefully. Eventually. Because that was what Arizona wanted.

Arizona looked at the brunette before her. She was very clearly nervous and the blonde wished she could reach out and hug her close to ease her nerves. But they weren't in a place right now where that would be appropriate. If anything it would probably aggravate the situation for the brunette. And Arizona hated that. Somehow everything had become so screwed up. The brunette had gone from being the blonde's closest confidant to being practically a stranger. All because of a kiss. A kiss that they had both liked. The blonde was confused and on the verge of some kind of breakdown.

Teddy cleared her throat. It was evident that something had changed between the blonde and the brunette, but every time Teddy voiced it, Arizona just said it was nothing. The honey-blonde didn't want to pry, but she'd kept an extra eye on the duo's interaction, and it had been very painful to watch to be honest. Something was totally amiss. Teddy desperately wanted Arizona to open up about it, but she didn't know how.

"Let's get you in there Callie. The guest of honor can't be late" Teddy stated and went for the door.

The honey-blonde held the door for Callie and Arizona to enter. As soon as she stepped foot in the screening room, Callie's eyes found a pair of blue ones, she hadn't seen in ages. "Erica! Oh my God, what are you doing here?" the brunette asked as she crossed the room and swung her arms around the other woman's neck.

Erica laughed and hugged Callie back. "Addison called. I mean I'd heard the rumors, but she invited me to this thing and I was so grateful she did, because I really want to be here for this."

The brunette released her friend and smiled at her. Then she turned her attention to Addison who stood behind the returned blonde. "Surprise!" the red head let out as she gave Callie a dazzling smile.

Callie stepped past Erica and hugged Addison too. "Thank you."

The red head smiled at the brunette as she eased out of the hug. "Don't mention it. Plus this gives me an opportunity to try and persuade her into coming back to us" Addison winked at Callie and smiled at Erica.

The brunette laughed and stepped back to Erica. She put her arm around the other woman's shoulder. "I can't believe you're here. How are you? Tell me everything!"

Erica looked at her friend and gave her a guilty smile. "I'm sorry I've been so out of touch. But it was really hard transitioning into the new work environment. Addison is an amazing boss, and trust me when I say, that you'll probably never work for anyone as laid back and accepting again. But I'll do better in the future and try not to step of the face of the earth for months on end, I promise."

Callie couldn't stop smiling. Seeing Erica again was so nice. And she couldn't have come at a better time. "It's okay Erica. I should have been better at getting in touch with you too. My life wasn't the one that changed."

"It was though. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for you during that. I fully expect to hear about it and bitch about Sloan later. But no depressing stuff now, because you are going to be an Academy Award nominee and that is anything but depressing."

Arizona watched from a distance as Callie chuckled at something Erica said. The brunette's brown eyes were shining with joy and life at the other woman's presence. It was clear to Arizona that the two of them were really close friends. The blonde felt a pang of jealousy towards the other blonde, who had left at the last summer hiatus and had been absent from the brunette's life for the past seven months, but then just came waltzing in here like she owned the place on such a day as today.

Teddy stepped up next to Arizona. "Aren't you going over there?" she asked the blonde.

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "Nah. She should have the opportunity to catch up with Erica. I'm sure they have a lot to talk about."

The honey-blonde looked at the trio of woman laughing and talking. She sent Addison a smile when her girlfriends' grey-blue eyes connected briefly with her own green ones. "I'm sure she would want you there Arizona. You are her friend, right?" the honey-blonde asked.

"Yeah. But Erica is her best friend. She should be there with Callie. Besides, Callie doesn't look like she's missing me" Arizona said crestfallenly.

Teddy didn't have the chance to comment on that as the screen lit up, and Addison shushed them all when the announcement began. The nomination-show was hosted by Joshua Halls and Gaby Raymond, an up and coming actress, who'd landed several big roles this past year.

"You should hand you phone over to Melody" Addison whispered to Callie and pointed to one of the PA's. "If you get nominated it is going to ring non-stop, and she can help you field the many calls." The brunette nodded and handed over her phone to the young woman with a grateful smile.

Callie felt a presence on her other side and looked over to find Mark standing there. He smiled at her before looking at the screen.

It seemed to take forever and hushed chatter could be heard through the room. Callie couldn't talk though. She felt like she couldn't even think in this moment.

Finally the words "and now for the nominations for actress in a leading role" sounded out throughout the room and everyone went deadly silent. Callie was sure that her beating heart could be heard by her colleagues. Her nerves were at an all-time high, and she could feel droplets of sweat make their way down her back. She jumped a little as she felt a familiar hand take her own and looked at Mark. He sent an encouraging smile and a wink her way as he squeezed her hand a bit. Callie smiled back at him gratefully and turned her attention back to the screen.

"A lot of very talented portrayed female characters have made their appearance on the big screen this past year. But I firmly believe that the five nominated women have been extraordinary in their performances. Let's take a look at the nominees for actress in a leading role" Joshua Halls stated.

Then his female companionship took over. "The first nominee is Noelle Jenkins for her performance in 'A Life to Behold'." The screening room was still deadly quiet except for a few whispered words of appreciation for the actress' performance as a picture along with clips of the actress' work in the movie played out on the big screen.

"The next nominee is Beatrice Barnes for her performance in 'Love and Betrayal'." Still not a sound in the room and Callie wasn't sure she was even breathing anymore. She felt the nerves and the need for air creep up on her as she looked at the actress' work on the screen. Beatrice was undoubtedly very, VERY good in that role.

"The third nominee is Callie Torres for her performance in 'A Better World'." As the room erupted in cheers and praises Callie felt all her blood rush to her toes, and she was sure she was going to pass out any second. Before that happened though, Mark had engulfed her in a big hug, and Callie felt herself exhale at the familiarity of the hug.

"Callie, you did it! Oh my God, I'm SO proud of you. Congratulations" Mark said with an emotional voice.

Callie just hugged Mark tighter and for a second it was just the two of them. The brunette couldn't help but to be grateful to the man that had been at her side as she struggled with the role. "Come with me" she whispered into his neck.

"Where to?" Mark asked confused.

Callie leaned back a little to look in his eyes. "To the Oscars. Come with me?"

A surprised look flashed across Mark's face but was replaced with a timid yet happy smile "Really? I thought you'd might take your dad or something, given the situation and all."

The brunette shook her head. "No. You were a big part of this. I couldn't have done it without you and I want you there with me. Besides, we're friends, right?"

Before Mark had the chance to respond, Callie was yanked away by Addison and Erica.

"Enough hugging for you, ex-husband. Now it's the best friends' turn" Erica said as she hugged Callie to her.

Across the room Arizona watched as Callie was hugged by first Mark then Erica and Addison. The brunette had clearly said something to the man that had surprised him, because he had this look of a small shock on his face. He looked happy though.

When Erica and Addison hugged Callie repeatedly the brunette broke out in giggles and she was absolutely beautiful. She looked so happy and right where she wanted to be. Arizona couldn't believe that she'd distanced herself from the woman this much. Had this happened a month ago, the blonde would have been the first person to hug her. And Callie would have wanted her to be the first person to hug her. Arizona would have probably taken advantage of the situation and inhaled the brunette's scent at the same time, because she wouldn't have been able to stop herself. It would have been a win-win type of thing.

But now she was relegated to the outskirts of the brunette's circle. And it was entirely her own fault, she knew that. The blonde felt a tear slip from her eyes and looked to the ceiling for a second before returning her look to Callie. This was actually the first time since Christmas that Arizona had the chance to observe the brunette from a distance. And as she stood there Arizona couldn't believe, that she'd freaked out as she did. Or ignored the other woman as long as she did. Maybe deep down it was the fear of what conclusions her heart and mind might have come to, if she'd talked and listened to the brunette. Because the Callie that stood there surrounded by close friends basking in her moment was breathtaking. She glowed. And Arizona felt like keeping away from her was a battle she was losing very fast.

On the first day back, Callie had told her that she'd liked kissing her. And that statement had made the blonde's insides erupt in butterflies. This gorgeous, astonishing woman, who was now also an Academy Award nominee by the way, had liked kissing HER. A girl from Little Creek, Georgia. And once again the blonde had been an idiot and hadn't even responded to, nor acknowledged, what Callie said to her.

Arizona sighed at her own stupidity. She desperately hoped she could fix things with the brunette. Because no matter how much Arizona tried to deny it, she'd really liked kissing the brunette as well. She had no idea what that to do with that or what it meant for her relationship with Callie. But she knew she at least needed to tell the other woman.

The blonde took a glass of champagne that was offered to her and congratulated the brunette and her nomination in a toast with the rest of their colleagues.

* * *

Callie, Addison and Erica sat at a restaurant downtown. When the red head had gotten confirmation that Erica could make it today, she'd made reservations for dinner for the three of them. They used to hang out all the time, and the red head had kind of missed Erica too. Not as much as the brunette though, but still.

"…I did have a mental breakdown, when she appeared on the cover of 'Gossip' hugging Mark. Going after my ex-husband is NOT okay, when we're friends. But it turns out it was just a misunderstanding and she didn't. They just had dinner to get to know each other better. Which is a good idea taking their on-screen relationship into consideration" Callie finished recounting her friendship with Arizona, well some of it at least, to Erica. She really hoped the blonde would change the subject soon, because talking about Arizona stirred all kinds of emotions in Callie.

"So what you're saying is that both you and my on-screen bae have replaced me with another blonde?" The blonde chuckled at her brunette friend. "That's harsh" Erica finished as she sent Addison a pointed glare.

The red head laughed at her friends' antics. "You were the one who left, Erica. What did you expect? Dr. Daess does not stay single for long, you should know that! And it turns out that Mark and Arizona's chemistry is of the charts which means I'm definitely keeping them together. So don't make any big fantasies about you coming back and breaking them up, because that won't happen, chica." the red head spoke.

"Hmm. Well Mark Sloan never really liked me anyway." Erica said.

Callie turned to her friend and slapped her shoulder. "Hey, he did" the brunette let out in earnest.

"Oh please Callie. He really didn't. And that's okay. I am friends with you and not him" Erica replied as she smiled at Callie. "How are you really doing with the divorce, Callie?"

The brunette lowered her gaze to her plate and played with the meat that was left there before looking up again and smiling, first at her red headed friend and then at the blonde. "Okay. Better than okay, actually. I mean a part of me will always love him, we were together for ten years after all. But I've accepted that we're over, and I'm truly ready to move on. I handed the signed divorce paper over to my lawyer last week, and now we just have to wait until it's finalized."

Erica smiling teasingly at her friend. "Ready to move on, huh? Already got your beautiful brown eyes set on someone else?"

Callie chuckled and by some miracle managed to keep a straight face. "Not at all. But when I do, I'll definitely be ready for it."

"What about you Ads. How are things with your lovely green eyed blonde?" Erica turned her attention to the red head as she took a sip of wine.

Addison couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "They are really good. Now at least. We broke up for a while. Well Teddy broke up with me for a while."

Erica almost choked in her wine. "What?! What happened? You guys were sickeningly sweet when I left."

The red head looked at the table for a second. "I was an idiot. I didn't talk to her. She wanted a baby and my communication skills completely vanished which meant that all I said on the matter came out entirely wrong, and I didn't get to tell her that basically I wanted a baby too, just maybe not this second." Addison sighed before a small smile crept up on her face. "Luckily Arizona went all crazy on Teddy one day, and that made her agree to talk to me. And then we worked it out, thank God."

Erica smiled at her friend "I'm really glad to hear that Ads." Erica then looked at Callie. "Sounds like I missed out on all sorts of drama while I was away. You better make me a newsletter at least once a month from now on, Cal. Make sure I don't miss anything"

Callie laughed at Erica, who turned her attention back to Addison. "So you're going to have a baby with Teddy? That's kind of big Addison."

The red head smiled bright at the thought. "Yeah I know. But we decided to wait a little. We've talked about starting the process during summer hiatus or in the fall. But I'm kind of hoping she'll want to wait until after we're married." Addison said and took a sip of her wine while eyeing her friends' reaction to that statement.

"What?!" This time it was Callie who almost choked on her wine. "You've proposed to her? When? And why didn't you tell me?"

Addison smiled, took her purse and started rummaging through it. "Relax Callie. I haven't done it yet. I only just got the ring yesterday." The red head took out a small, blue box and opened it for her two friends to see. It was a three stoned, round, 2,5 carat diamond ring and it was beautiful.

"Wow Ads. That is stunning." Callie said as she lifted the box to explore the ring closely.

"Thank you. I just hope she'll like it. I want it to be perfect for her" the red head stated with a loving look in her eyes.

"She'll love it Ads. No doubt about it. When are you going to do it?" Erica asked as it was her turn to get a closer look at the ring.

"I don't know yet. I want to create the perfect setting." Addison told her friends.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. But just know that it will be perfect to her no matter when or where you do it. Oh Addison, I'm so happy for you" Callie squealed and raised her glass as she motioned for the other two to do the same. "To Addison and her soon-to-be fiancé" the brunette reached out to clink her glass against the other woman's but the red head withdrew hers the last second.

Callie sent the Addison a questioning look. "And to Callie; an amazing Academy Award nominee." With that the red head tipped her glass against the other two's.

* * *

Callie was finally home and had just gotten off the phone with her dad. He was ecstatic and so proud of his eldest daughter. The brunette still couldn't believe it. She was nominated for an Academy Award. It was unreal. She was absolutely sure she wasn't going to win, but the nomination itself was something that only a few got to experience. And Callie had every intention of enjoying this to the fullest. It was probably a once in a lifetime experience. Today had been a long and emotional day, and she was exhausted.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a knock on the door. The brunette rose from the couch and made her way to the front door. When she opened it, she was met with a shyly and slightly uncomfortably smiling Arizona with a bouquet of red gladioli flowers in her hand. "Hey Callie. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Callie looked at the blonde. She hated that things were obviously still awkward between them. "Not at all Arizona. I was just sitting by myself, processing it all. What's up?"

Arizona looked at Callie and for a second she got lost in the dark brown eyes. "Can I come in?" she hesitantly asked.

The brunette blushed a little. It was kind of rude of her not to ask the blonde to come in immediately. "Of course, I'm sorry I didn't offer that. Please come in" Callie stated as she moved from the door to grant the blonde entrance.

Arizona walked in and turned to Callie handing her the bouquet of flowers. "These are for you, Callie."

The brunette took the bouquet from the blonde. "They are beautiful Arizona. Thank you."

"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady" Arizona replied without thinking. In fact she didn't even know she said the words out loud until she noticed the confused and slightly resigned look on Callie's face. "Oh God, I'm sorry. That was…Sorry!" Arizona blushed.

Callie sighed and beckoned for the other woman to sit down on the couch. The brunette sat down next to her. "What are you doing here Arizona?" Callie asked as she put the flowers down on her coffee table.

"I just wanted to properly congratulate you on your nomination actually. I didn't really do it earlier. I mean I wanted to, but Erica was there and I didn't want to intrude. So I decided to wait. I stopped by earlier, but you weren't home" the blonde let out as she fiddled with her hands.

Callie looked at the flowers once again. "I went out to dinner with Addison and Erica. Addison had made reservations. It was nice."

Arizona smiled at Callie. "I can imagine. It must be nice seeing Erica again. I mean she's your best friend and all" the blonde stated.

"She's one of them at least" Callie said before getting up. "I'm just going to put these in water. Can I get you anything?" the brunette asked as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Just some water, thank you" the blonde said.

A couple of minutes later Callie returned with two bottles of water and a vase with the flowers. She put the flowers on the table and sat down next to the blonde again and an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Callie felt anger starting to rise in her, but just as she was about to open her mouth and tell the blonde to leave, Arizona spoke up.

"I need to apologize to you Callie. You have been amazing to me. Like really, really amazing. With everything. I can't believe you gave me the time of the day when we got back from Christmas break actually. Because I have been really horrible. And I'm so sorry Callie. The thought of facing what had happened, and what it meant to me, was just too much somehow. I just…" the blonde sighed and looked down and removed some imaginary lint from her jeans. Then she flicked her gaze to the flowers standing on the table.

"Do you know what the red gladioli flower mean?" the blonde asked and looked at the brunette who just shook her head. "The red specifically means passionate remembrance and the gladioli flower itself tells the receiver that he or she pierces the heart."

Callie locked her eyes on the blue ones next to her. "What are you saying, Arizona?"

The blonde closed her eyes for second to escape the intense look from the other woman. Then she took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. "You and I got really close really fast. It was like sometimes you just knew what I was thinking before I even knew myself. You always seemed to know what I needed the second I needed it. And whenever you weren't there I couldn't help but look for you. Because I was so addicted to you and your presence. And I didn't really think about that. Until you kissed me. That changed everything Callie. All of a sudden my feelings weren't the feelings I thought they were. Suddenly everything cleared and kind of made sense to me somehow."

The brunette was captured by the blue color of the other woman's eyes in this moment. She'd never seen it before. It was like a mixture of cerulean and cobalt and it was alluring like nothing Callie had ever seen before. "I know what you mean. Everything made sense to me in that moment too" she softly said.

"But you're a woman." Arizona whispered.

Callie smiled a little at the statement "I am! And so are you."

Arizona looked to her hands. "Yeah, I know."

The brunette moved closer to the blonde who still held her gaze down. Callie decided to take a risk and reached out for one of the blonde's hands. Arizona tensed up at first, but then she relaxed and intertwined her fingers with Callie's.

"Is that what made you ditch me on the balcony at the Christmas party?" the brunette gently asked.

Arizona exhaled loudly and nodded her head. "Yeah. I think it was. It scared me that it felt so right. I REALLY liked it. And that freaked me out. Which is why I ran. And I'm so unbelievably sorry I did that to you" the blonde played with the caramel fingers intertwined with her own.

Callie reached out with her free hand and tilted the blonde's head up by the chin. Callie tried to convey all of her feelings for the other woman in one look. "You should have talked to me Arizona. And I'm not going to pretend I'm not mad or hurt by the fact that you didn't. But I forgive you. Because I can tell that you're genuinely remorseful and you're talking to me now. I can't do anything about being a woman. Well actually that's not true. I don't WANT to do anything about it." The blonde chuckled a little and the brunette smiled in return. "And I totally get if it's too much Arizona. That's okay. Just don't lead me on with flowers or sweet words, please. Because I can't take that. Like I've said before I REALLY liked that kiss too and I desperately want to do it again. But if you don't feel the same way, you need to say so. And then you need to stop bringing me flowers that mean passionate remembrance and tell me I'm beautiful and stuff like that. And then we'll never speak of this again, I promise."

Arizona could see the honesty and tenderness in the brown eyes before her. Callie gave her a way out. Again. And Arizona felt so much appreciation and warmth for the other woman in that moment. But the moment made her finally admit to herself what she already knew deep down; she didn't want to never speak of it again because she really wanted to kiss Callie once more too. The woman sitting next to her was absolutely magnificent. And Arizona desperately wanted to get over the fact that Callie was a woman. It shouldn't matter.

Callie watched as Arizona slowly leaned in. The brunette's eyes flickered between the blue orbs and the pink lips in front of her. Just as the blonde was about to connect their lips Callie earnestly whispered "please don't do this unless you mean it, Arizona."

Arizona smiled at Callie and cupped one of her cheeks with her hand. The brunette closed her eyes at the soft touch. Then the blonde leaned all the way in and connected her lips with Callie's. Arizona felt the brunette tense at first, but soon the other woman's body relaxed and Callie moaned on to the blonde's lips. Arizona let out a little gasp at the intoxicating sound and the feeling of vibration on her lips, and she opened her mouth slightly. As soon as she did, Callie's tongue made its way to her mouth and found hers.

Arizona slowly twirled her tongue around Callie's. The feeling of the brunette's tongue and lips against her own was every bit as sensational as the blonde remembered. The blonde cursed herself for treating this amazing creature next to her as she did only because she was a woman. It was ridiculous. Callie was so gentle and soft and attentive. As the kiss slowed, Arizona gently bit the brunette's bottom lip before soothing the spot with her tongue. Callie moaned again and Arizona sighed as she released the brunette's lips and put her forehead against Callie's.

Arizona opened her eyes and took in the sight before her. The blonde could really see the length of the brunette's eyelashes as her eyes were still closed. The freckles on her cheeks were also more obvious and the blonde found the brunette even more beautiful this close. Arizona couldn't help but smile as she closed her eyes again and brushed her nose against Callie's.

Callie held her breath. The kiss had once again been totally and utterly amazing. Maybe even better than the first one. But she could feel the fear of the blonde fleeing again creeping up on her. The feeling of the blonde's forehead against her own and the soft brushing of their noses grounded her a little bit though. She whimpered and instantly felt herself panic when the blonde removed herself from her. But the panic were subdued a bit when the brunette felt soft, pink lips place a lingering peck on her lips.

Once the kiss ended the brunette opened her eyes. And Arizona's heart broke at the uncertainty and trepidation she found in the chocolate brown orbs. She once again cupped the brunette's cheek. "Callie, I'm not running again. I promise." The blonde slowly caressed the brunette's cheek with her thumb. "I might not know what is going on between us, and we don't have to figure that out right now, but I do know that I really like this. And I really like you. So can we please explore this together? Just you and me?"

Callie smiled at Arizona and the blonde saw most of the uncertainty and trepidation be replaced with hope and relief. "I'd really like that. Because I like this and you too. Very much." the brunette finished and leaned in for another kiss. This time the kiss was playful and almost easy. Callie felt the blonde trace her tongue at the back of her teeth and their tongues were teasing and almost trying to escape each other at times. It made Callie's head spin and she never wanted to do anything but kiss the blonde ever again. Screw her career and Academy Award nomination. She just wanted to sit on this couch with Arizona until they both shrank away.

Eventually she had to pull away though as the need for air became too great to ignore. Arizona smiled at Callie and once again traced the brunette's cheek with her thumb. "I should go. It's getting pretty late and we both have work tomorrow. But maybe we could see each other tomorrow night. Dinner, wine and movies like we used to. And then just see what happens. I'm not ready to label this yet, Callie, I'm sorry. But I would truly like to spend some time with you. Alone." Arizona smiled at Callie and the brunette could see the twinkle in the blue eyes before her. The blonde was happy.

Callie smiled back and reached up to put her hand on top of the blonde's on her cheek. She guided the paler hand to her mouth and placed a kiss on the palm of it. "That's okay. To be honest I don't think I'm ready for that either. Let's just see how it goes. We'll just do whatever we feel like when we feel like it, okay? And dinner, wine and movies tomorrow sound really good."

The blonde smiled before withdrawing her hand and getting up from the couch. Callie walked the blonde to the door. As she was about to open it, the blonde's hand covered her own on the door handle. The brunette looked at the blonde who smiled bashfully with a little blush on her cheeks "Maybe just one more kiss?"

The brunette chuckled at the adorableness of the other woman and leaned in. She planted a soft kiss on pink lips before looking into the eyes of the other woman. "Goodnight Arizona. Drive safely." Then she opened the door and the blonde stepped out into the night. As she reached her car she waved at Callie before getting in her car and driving towards her apartment.

 **And that's it for chapter 12! A happy 'ending' for the weekend! I hope you liked it :P**

 **Let me know :)**

 **Enjoy your weekend.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	13. Chapter 13

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi you guys :)**

 **I'm back with chapter 13! I'll try to update tomorrow as well, since I won't be doing it on Tuesday – it's my birthday, yay! :) But I'm not promising anything. Otherwise I'll be back on Wednesday. This is a bit of a fluffy chapter, and I hope you all really like it.**

 **Thank you, once again, for all your love for my story. I'm overwhelmed by it. Although I do feel the pressure of not letting you people down with each passing chapter! ;) Just kidding – keep the love coming, please :)**

 **Also EURO 2016 (The European Championship in football, or soccer to some of you) has started and I absolutely love that sport! So even though my home country sadly isn't represented, I will watch all the matches I can. My updates may be less frequent as a result of that. But as I'm way ahead with the chapters there's a possibility you won't notice it – just consider yourself warned and know the reason if you get a feeling I might be a little absent in the coming weeks. The updates will keep coming though, I promise, so stay patient.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

CHAPTER 13:

Callie woke up with a strange feeling when her alarm went off at 7. She was happier than she could remember being in a long time, but still somewhat hesitant on letting the happiness really settle. The brunette grabbed her phone and went to the kitchen to get her coffee started. As she passed the living room her eyes caught the red flowers on the table and she couldn't help but smile.

Last night Arizona had said all the things that Callie had longed to hear for the last month. But something in Callie was still slightly cautious. When Callie had kissed Arizona the first time it had seemed like the blonde liked it too. But then she had run anyway. How could the brunette be sure it wouldn't happen again? Callie just couldn't deal with being left behind like that one more time. She was falling very fast for the blonde. It was like every time she kissed those pink lips, her brain allowed for a little more of the feelings she had desperately tried to block to resurface.

As her coffee was brewing she opened her phone and her smile got bigger when she noticed a text message from Arizona. She had received it at 4.32, which meant that the blonde had written it immediately after she woke up. And that made Callie extremely happy.

 _*Good morning Callie. I hope you slept well and that I didn't wake you up with this. If I did, I apologize. I just wanted to let you know, that I dreamt about you last night and woke up feeling really good. I can't wait to see you later. – Arizona_

Callie smiled at the words in the text. Arizona was definitely trying, and the brunette was delighted by that. The brunette quickly texted the blonde back before getting ready for today's table read.

* * *

Arizona made her way to the conference room for the table read. She'd had the best day so far. She rocked her morning training and really schooled the guys. Andrew and Jackson had NOT been pleased with that, but the blonde couldn't care less. She'd just basked in the feeling, when Andy spent a great amount of time praising her progress. It made getting up at 4.30 am worth it.

She was sure that her brilliancy at the workout had everything to do with last night. Arizona had gone to bed really happy. And she had woken up really happy. She felt like she was back to her usual self. Like before the Christmas party. Except for one crucial part that made everything seem even better than before. Callie. She had gotten her shit together and talked to Callie. And Callie had forgiven her. And they had kissed again. And Arizona couldn't get enough of the feeling of the brunette's lips on her own. Or the brunette in general.

And in a matter of minutes she got to see Callie again. She couldn't kiss her, obviously, but she couldn't wait to just see her again. That was all she needed. She opened the door to the conference room and instantly let her eyes wander to the beautiful brunette who sat at her chair scrolling through something on her tablet.

The blonde took a second to admire the other woman, but as if she could feel Arizona's eyes on her, Callie looked up and found the blonde looking at her. She sent Arizona a crooked smile. The blonde smiled back and made her way to her chair. She put her purse down and took a seat. Then a coffee was placed in front of her, and Arizona looked at Callie with a grateful smile.

Afraid that those brown eyes would suck her in if she didn't look away, Arizona cast a glance at the brunette's tablet on the table. "What were you doing?"

Callie watched as the blonde sipped her coffee. "I was just going through emails. You wouldn't believe the amount I've received since yesterday. It's insane. I think I have to rope one of the PA's or my agent into sorting through them. Separate them in congratulatory emails, job offers and whatnot."

The blonde smiled at the brunette. "Well your stardom has just been upped a level. Of course everyone wants to be a part of that" Arizona added.

The brunette smiled in return. "Yeah, but some just want to pretend to know me. You should see the amount of flowers that are currently taking up space in my trailer. I would say that 80% of them are from people, mainly men, I don't even know. It's stupid."

Arizona narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows at that. She knew she had no right, but the blonde hated the thought of other people sending flowers to Callie. She really wanted to be the only one to do that. As if Callie could sense the blonde's agitation she leaned in and whispered with a soft and affectionate voice "Don't worry. The most beautiful flowers I've received are without a doubt the ones standing at home on my coffee table. And they are the only ones that get to adorn my home, the rest of them stays in the trailer, I promise."

The blonde smiled in gratitude and couldn't help but reach out and quickly squeeze the brunette's thigh under the table. They were interrupted as Teddy approached their table. "Hey guys. How are you Callie? Still digesting it all?" the honey-blonde asked with a smile.

Callie smiled back at Teddy. "Yeah. Yesterday was fun, but today I'm so ready to just get back to work and normality. I'll worry about the Academy Awards once all the luncheons and whatever are happening."

Teddy snorted. "You really think that's possible? Thinks are not normal at all. An Academy Award nomination is a big thing. Not to mention it's your first one. I bet a lot of people will want a piece of Callie Torres for at least the next month and a half. In more than one way probably. Should really give you the opportunity to enjoy being single again and date every hot an available bachelor out there" the honey-blonde teased with a wink at the brunette.

Arizona clenched her fists at Teddy's words. She knew it was jealousy. Which was ridiculous because Callie had just kissed her last night. And even though they hadn't labeled it, the brunette hadn't given any hints at wanting to kiss anyone else. But still the mere thought of someone 'getting a piece of Callie' made the blonde's insides turn.

Teddy turned her attention to her blonde friend. "Could I maybe talk to you sometime today? It doesn't need to be right this second or anything, I just need your advice on a matter."

Arizona smiled up at her friend "Sure thing Teddy. I have a break at 1 o'clock. Will that work for you?"

"Yes that's perfect actually. I'll meet you in the cafeteria." the honey-blonde said.

With that Teddy made her way back to her seat. Arizona turned her attention back to Callie. "Do you want to come by my place for dinner and movie tonight? I'm off at 5 and then I could go grocery shopping and we could cook together before watching the movie?"

Before Callie had the chance to reply, Addison hushed the group of actors and let them know that the table read was to begin. Looking at the first page, Callie realized that neither she nor Arizona had lines, and she leaned over a little to the blonde next to her.

Callie caught Arizona's gaze, and brown orbs connected with clear blue eyes. "That sounds really good. I'd like that Arizona. I'm off at 6 and then I'll just come right by" Callie whispered. The blonde gave a bright dimpled smile in return before once again paying attention to the script.

* * *

At 1 Arizona entered the cafeteria. She spotted Teddy sitting at the table with two coffees in front of her. The blonde made her way to her friend and sat down. She snatched one of the coffees and took a sip. "What's up Teddy?"

The honey-blonde looked really anxious as she took a sip of her own latté. "Well, this morning while Addison was in the shower her mom texted me, she always does that because she knows that Addison can be kind of distracted if she's really busy at work, and then she forgets to tell me things or write them down, and then we end up not being able to make it to certain stuff after all…"

"Teddy, not that it isn't very interesting to hear about your mother-in-law texting you or Addison and her absent brain, but you're rambling, and I have no idea where this is going. But my break is only 15 minutes and I think you've gotten slightly off track" Arizona gently interrupted her friends.

Teddy shook her head. "Sorry, I lost focus. My brain is a mess. Anyway, Addison's mother texted me wanting to know if we could attend some sort of charity event at a children's hospital on the first weekend of February. So I went to get Addison's calendar from her bag…"

Arizona had to admit that it was impossible for her to focus on what Teddy was telling her in that moment. Because Callie had just entered the cafeteria with Nathan, Jo and Amelia, and the brunette was laughing really hard at something Nathan said. She was beautiful to Arizona and the blonde couldn't help but stare at her. Callie turned her head slightly and locked her gaze with Arizona's. She smiled at the blonde before turning her attention back to her three companions. A small smile grazed the blonde's face.

"ARIZONA?!" Teddy's stern voice cut through the air and shook the blonde from her thoughts. "What the hell is wrong with you? You clearly haven't listened to a word I said, and don't even try to deny it, because believe me, you would have said something if you had!" the honey-blonde turned around and followed the blonde's line of sight. "Do you have something going on with Nathan? Because I'm pretty sure he's still kind of into Callie! No you know what, I don't want to know! I needed my friend, but clearly other things are going on and are more important to you. You have been so distant since coming back from Christmas break, and I am over it!" Teddy began to get up from her chair and Arizona could see the disappointment and anger in the other woman's demeanor. She quickly reached out and grabbed the honey-blonde's wrist.

"Teddy I'm so sorry. I…" Arizona sighed. "I just got sidetracked for a minute. It's got nothing to do with you or Nathan, and I'm sorry I'm being a shitty friend. Please sit down and tell me what's going on. I'll pay attention, I promise" the blonde begged.

Teddy slumped down on her chair again. She studied her friend as the blonde looked expectantly at her while taking a sip of her coffee. The honey-blonde took in a big breath. "I found an engagement ring in Addison's bag" she stated in a whisper while exhaling.

"WHAT?!" Arizona loudly said as she spit her coffee all over the table. All eyes in the cafeteria, including a set of mesmerizing brown ones, landed on the blonde.

"Oh my God Arizona, keep it down would you!" Teddy scolded her blonde friend.

"Sorry" Arizona sheepishly said as she looked around the cafeteria. Most of the other occupants had gone back to their own thing, though. She caught a glimpse of Callie, who sent her a questioning look. "Tell me again how that happened" the blonde asked as she returned her attention to Teddy.

"I don't know where I lost you, but her mother texted me wanting to know if we were free the first weekend of February. I went to get Addison's calendar from her bag to check if she had anything on her schedule, because sometimes she has a work thing or something that she forgets to tell me about. She does that all the time. Like a week ago she invited Callie to dinner at our place tomorrow night, and she only just told me on the way here this morning…"

"Teddy, you're getting sidetracked again" Arizona pointed out.

"Sorry. I went to get her calendar and as I open up the bag a bright blue box is just sitting there. Staring back at me. Begging to be picked up" the honey-blonde exclaimed.

"What did you do?" Arizona questioned with a suspicious look.

Teddy sighed. "I picked it up. But don't worry I didn't open it. I just couldn't get myself to do that. She picked it out specifically for me, and I want to be surprised when she gives it to me. I did nearly march straight in to the shower with the box in my hand demanding she'd ask me right then and there though. Because I would LOVE to marry her, Arizona. And it's been all I can think about since this morning. And now I don't know if I should tell her I found it. What do you think?" the honey-blonde asked her friend.

Arizona smiled at Teddy. "I think Addison is one lucky lady, and I can absolutely understand she wants to marry you."

Teddy chuckled at that comment and interrupted the blonde "My, my Arizona. Is there something you aren't telling me?" the honey-blonde winked.

Arizona laughed. "Don't get your hopes up, Altman. And as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me" the blonde sent her friend a playful smile "I understand she wants to marry you. And that you want to marry her for that matter. But I think you need to let her set the pace for this. I get that it's hard, since you found the ring and all, but I'm sure she'll ask you once she's ready. Once she finds the perfect opportunity."

Teddy threw her hands in the air. "But that's ridiculous. No matter when and where she does it, it's going to be perfect. Because it's her, the woman of my dreams, proposing to me."

Arizona chuckled a little at the desperation in the other woman's voice. "Boy, you sure as hell aren't the patient type. Have faith in her Teddy. She loves you, and she wants to give you everything. Don't force her to compromise and do this half-heartedly because you snooped through her bag. She needs to do it her way. The way she planned."

The honey-blonde leaned back in her chair dramatically. "Ugh, I hate that you're so good at seeing things from both sides. And I didn't snoop through her bag. But fiiiiine, I'll wait. She better do it soon though, because I need that ring on my finger."

The blonde laughed at her friend. "Yeah, I'm annoying like that. And let me know if it becomes unbearable to you, then I'll drop a few subtle hints to your woman."

Teddy looked pensively at her friend for a minute who just sat across from her with a dimpled smile. "Now that I've gotten that off my chest, are you going to tell me what is going on with you? Because something is definitely going on. And why were you staring at Nathan?"

Arizona sighed and looked down at her coffee. "I can't Teddy. I'm sorry. It's nothing serious or bad I promise, and I'm sorry I've seemed distant and weird. I'll do better in the future. But I can't tell you what's going on. Not yet. And I wasn't staring at Nathan."

"If you say so. And I'm here if you need me, okay? You can always tell me anything. I promise I won't tell Addison if you don't want me too." Teddy gave her friend an encouraging smile.

The blonde smiled back. "Thank you Teddy. You're a really good friend."

* * *

Callie was nervous when she stood in front of the blonde's apartment at 6.30. As she was standing in her trailer changing into her street clothes, she'd suddenly started thinking about this night. Was it a date? Because Callie hadn't really thought of it like that. She'd just thought of it as two people sharing dinner, wine and a movie. And maybe, hopefully, a kiss. Or two. But what if the blonde had a different idea. What if this was a first date kind of thing. Should she have brought the blonde flowers?

She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. It was torn open within seconds and Callie was met with a brightly smiling Arizona. She wore cut of denim shorts and a green top with her long blonde hair let loose around her shoulders, and Callie was in awe of her subtle beauty. In an instant all of Callie's nerves disappeared. It didn't matter what this was. She just wanted to spend some time with the woman standing in front of her. "Hi Callie. Please come in." Arizona reached out and yanked the other woman inside.

Callie laughed a little at the blonde's enthusiasm. As soon as the door was closed a pair of pale arms wrapped around her neck and her senses were invaded by everything that was Arizona. Callie hugged Arizona back and breathed her in. "I've been waiting to do that all day" Arizona whispered into the taller woman's shoulder.

The brunette smiled into the blonde hair. "Me too" she softly said. They stood there for a couple of minutes just hugging each other before Arizona eased out of the hug. She looked up into the deep brown eyes in front of her. Arizona really wanted to kiss the other woman, but she didn't know if she could. She didn't want to just jump Callie the second she stepped in the door and chance making the brunette uncomfortable for the rest of the night. Instead she opted to take Callie's hand to lead her to the kitchen. Callie didn't move though and the blonde was pulled back.

She was met with a smiling brunette. "We'll do what we feel like when we feel like it, remember?" the brunette stated with a smile at the shorter woman. Arizona blushed as she knew she had been caught. "And I really want to kiss you too" Callie softly added.

Arizona couldn't help the grin that took over her face. Then she tilted her head and leaned up. She was met halfway with a set of rich, plump lips that the blonde quickly became dependent on. Their lips softly connected and Arizona threw her arms around Callie as she deepened the kiss. Callie tasted sweet like she had done the other times, but she also had a distinct taste of mint. Arizona couldn't help but chuckle a little at the discovery.

This made the brunette pull out of the kiss and look at Arizona with questioning eyes that had a hint of hurt in them. The blonde quickly schooled her features. "I'm sorry, it's not you, I promise, it's just…did you brush your teeth before you got here?"

Arizona watched as a blush spread across the brunette's cheeks. "I might have" Callie answered with a shrug and a smirk.

The blonde giggled. "Presumptuous much, Ms. Torres?"

Callie chuckled. "Well I definitely didn't have any doubts as to what I felt like doing when I got here" the brunette honestly answered.

Arizona beamed at the woman before her. "Well that's nice to know. And luckily I feel like doing the same thing." With that the blonde started to lean in again, but Callie gently pushed her away.

"Oh no. You ruined the moment, and now I don't feel like doing it anymore." Callie smiled as the blonde in front of her pouted in the most adorable way ever.

"Calliiiiie" Arizona whined. The kiss had been way to short and the blonde didn't care if that was her fault or not. She just wanted to kiss the brunette again.

The brunette laughed and took the other woman's hand. With nothing else to focus on, Callie couldn't help but notice the softness of the hand in hers. Just yesterday Mark's hand had been wrapped around her own, but Arizona's was just so different. It fit so much better somehow. She squeezed the paler hand. "Come on. You have to feed me. And then it's my turn to pick out the movie."

The duo made their way to the kitchen and Arizona started getting the ingredients out of the fridge. "Lasagna, huh?" Callie asked as she winked at the blonde. Ever since the brunette made it the first time the blonde had been sold, and if the other woman had her way they would eat that particular dish every day.

"Yeah. Do you mind?" Arizona hesitantly asked.

Callie smiled and took the meat from the blonde's hands. "Of course not. I'll start on the meat, you cut the onions and the peppers" the brunette delegated.

Arizona did as she was told. She couldn't help but steal a few glances at Callie once in a while. The brunette was wearing a flowing white dress and it made her tanned caramel skin glow even more. Her hair was done in a messy side swept Dutch braid and Arizona took the time to admire the other woman's long neck. When she'd finished cutting the vegetables she stepped up behind Callie, reached around her and let the cut up onions and peppers fall into the pot.

She put the cutting board of to the side and placed her hands around the brunette's waist. Then she placed a soft kiss on the back of the taller woman's neck. She smiled when she felt a shiver run down Callie's spine. "What can I do next, chef?" Arizona tenderly whispered in the brunette's ear.

Callie looked over her shoulder and smiled at Arizona. "Set the table. This has to simmer for a while as I make the béchamel sauce and then it just needs to be put in the oven."

Arizona removed her hands from Callie's waist. "Okay. I can do that. It smells amazing as always by the way." The blonde caressed the brunette's back for a second before doing as she was told and started setting the table.

When the lasagna was in the oven the brunette made her way to the living room. Arizona was standing by the window looking out, clearly lost in her own thoughts. Callie made her way to the blonde and put her arms around the shorter woman's neck from behind before leaning down and placing a kiss on the side of her head. The blonde smiled and put her hands on Callie's strong arms.

"What are you thinking so hard about over here?" the brunette questioned.

Arizona turned around in Callie's arms and smiled brightly at the other woman. "Nothing much really. That I'm happy we're back on track. Liked we used to. With an extra little something" the blonde shyly said.

Callie couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm happy about that too. Especially the extra little something." The brunette leaned down and placed a playful, lingering kiss on Arizona's lips.

The blonde sighed before murmuring "you're really good at that" against plump lips.

The brunette laughed and pulled back. "Well thank you, you too." Arizona smiled and turned in Callie's arms to once again look out the window. The two of them stood there until a ding from the oven let them know that dinner was ready.

"I'll get the wine, you get the lasagna" Arizona said as they made their way to the kitchen.

Coming back the duo sat down and started eating. "So, what did Teddy want? You seemed really surprised earlier in the cafeteria" the brunette asked with a chuckle.

Arizona blushed at the memory of her outburst. "I can't really tell you, I'm sorry. But she's okay. It's nothing unpleasant or anything. She just needed some friendly advice."

Callie smiled. "That's okay. You don't have to tell me everything. You can have secrets with your other friends. I'm just happy to know she's okay."

The two women continued talking and laughing while eating. When they finished they cleared the table, tidied the kitchen and made their way back to the living room.

The duo sat down on the couch with their legs up on the coffee table, and for the first time that night awkwardness set in. Arizona had no idea what to do or how to behave in this situation. She felt a pull towards Callie like no other, but at the same time this was so new. She somehow felt the need for a little space of some sorts. A foot to her left Callie struggled as well. She really wanted to just lay the blonde down on the couch and kiss her with everything she had, but at the same time something inside of her told her to be careful and step on the breaks a little. She really didn't want them to mess this up, and she knew that easing into this was crucial. Because no matter what it was a big transitioning.

"This is ridiculous" the blonde let out at last. "Things shouldn't be this awkward. It's just a movie between friends for crying out loud." Arizona looked at Callie who gave her a small smile.

"I know. Except it's really not. Not anymore. I know we said that we would do what we felt like when we felt like it, and trust me when I say that I really want nothing else but to wrap you up in my arms and get lost in you. But I feel like we just need to take it slow for a bit. I mean right now we're supposed to just be two friends hanging out while occasionally enjoying making out. And I like that. I really like that. But we have to be careful because I think we could very easily get carried away if we just let go, and that can't happen. It will make one of us run. And I really don't want that" the brunette let out.

Arizona smiled at Callie. "I know. Me neither. And I'm absolutely on board with taking it slow even though getting totally lost in you sounds amazing." The blonde slowly eased closer to the brunette. "Maybe just this for tonight?" Arizona asked as she took Callie's right hand with her left and intertwined their fingers.

The brunette looked down to their hands and then glanced up into intoxicating blue eye. "I like that."

A big smile spread across Arizona's face. "Great. Now tell me, what are we watching?"

Callie looked at the screen in front of her and logged on to Arizona's Netflix account. "I figured we could pick up where we left off and watch 'The lost World'. Is that okay with you?"

Arizona smiled and couldn't help but to snuggle up to Callie a little bit. "It's perfect" she said and leaned her head on the brunette's shoulder. Callie put her cheek to rest on the blonde's head and started the movie.

Halfway through Callie noticed Arizona's breathing even out. She chanced a look at the blonde who had dozed off. This was the first time Callie had seen the blonde sleep and it was the cutest sight ever. Her nose was scrunched up a little bit and a small smile graced her lips. Her skin was flawless and Callie could see the Georgian sun had given the other woman's face a soft glow. The brunette turned her gaze to the strong pale legs that were spread out on the coffee table. The soft glow of a tan was also clearly present there and Callie thought to herself that the blonde must have spent quite some time outside during Christmas break. A small bruise and a scrape were barely visible just above the blonde's left knee and Callie couldn't help but wonder when the other woman got that.

"Are you watching me sleep?" The sound of the other woman's voice made the brunette jump off the couch a little.

"Jesus Christ Arizona! You scared the shit out of me." Callie exclaimed as she tried to calm her racing heart.

Arizona laughed and buried her face in the crook of the other woman's neck. "Well, were you?" When no answer came, the blonde removed her head from Callie's shoulder and looked at her. The brunette looked to her lap really uncomfortable all of a sudden.

The blonde sat up straight on the couch. "Hey, it's okay. I would have done the same." Arizona took their intertwined hands and put them in her lap before letting go of the brunette's hand. Then she reached over with her right hand an intertwined it with Callie's left as she gently pulled the brunette closer. Arizona put her free arm around the other woman's shoulders. The change in position made them sit really close and Arizona's cheek was pressed gently against the side of Callie's head. The brunette could feel a whiff of Arizona's breathing hit her every time the other woman exhaled. "I like it when you look at me. It makes me feel cared for. Because you don't just look at me. You see me" the blonde spoke softly.

Callie turned her head a little and Arizona couldn't help but do the same. Blue eyes connected with deep brown and Arizona couldn't look away if she wanted to. The brown eyes of the other woman sparkled in the light from the TV and they just drew Arizona in. "I really do" Callie whispered. She then moved her gaze to the blonde's knee. "How did you get the bruise?"

Arizona had to clear her throat to regain her ability to speak after the intense eye contact with Callie a second earlier. "Tim accidentally tripped me in my dad's workshop my first day in Georgia."

Callie made a face "Ouch."

The blonde giggled at the other woman. "Yeah. But actually it wasn't too bad. It definitely looked worse than it felt. But luckily it's almost gone now, because I'm not that pretty or feminine with scrapes on my knees."

Callie regained eye contact with Arizona again. "I disagree. I think every last bit of you is beautiful. And very feminine. No scrape or bruise can ever change that."

"Thank you" Arizona whispered as she saw the sincerity in the chocolate eyes. And she couldn't help herself as she leaned in and captured Callie's lips with her own. The kiss was soft and slow and neither woman made an attempt at deepening it. When they parted Callie cleared her throat. "It's getting late, and you're obviously tired. I should go."

Arizona hugged Callie closer to her body. "No. Please stay a little longer. I'm not that tired."

The brunette laughed at the other woman. "You fell asleep during the movie Arizona. You're tired. And that's both okay and understandable. We'll see each other tomorrow." Callie untangled herself from Arizona and got off the couch.

The blonde sighed and followed the brunette. "I know. But that won't be the same. I like it when it's just the two of us. And I know you're going to Addison and Teddy's tomorrow night for dinner, because Teddy told me, which means that I won't be able to see you." Arizona looked very vulnerable in that moment and Callie desperately wanted to make the blonde feel better. But at the same time she had to stick with her earlier plan.

"Hey, look at me" the brunette softly said as she stepped closer to Arizona and put her hands on the other woman's upper arms. The blonde slowly looked up at the brunette. "I know it's not the same. But I meant it when I said I think we need to take it slow Arizona. I want to be with you all the time so bad, but I'm afraid that if we get carried away, we'll move too fast without seeing it, and then one day one of us will suddenly realize that a lot of boundaries have been crossed way before we were really ready for it. And I don't want that to happen, because I'm afraid that there'll be no fixing that."

The blonde looked to her feet and sighed again. "I know you think the person to realize that is going to be me. And I get why you're thinking that. And you're probably right. Because you're really smart. And to be honest I have to say that not being with you tomorrow, alone, scares me, because I think it will make me freak out a little bit because I'll have too much time to think about it all. You calm me Callie, and I'm still dealing with all of this, but when you're here, when you're with me, nothing else matters" Arizona finished with a whisper.

Callie was slightly taken aback by the blonde's admission. She gently lifted the other woman's chin and looked Arizona in the eye. "The fact that you acknowledge that you're aware that you're probably going to freak out is a huge step in the right direction, Arizona. And now that you know, you can try to deal with it. And if it's not working then promise me, you'll call me. And then I'll be here. I WILL rudely ditch our friends to come to you if you need me. You, Arizona Robbins, are so very important to me. But I think that it's crucial you try to deal with this on your own too. Maybe you need to talk to someone about it. Can you think of anyone you could talk to about this whole thing?"

Arizona was captured by the care and sincerity in the brown eyes before her. "You're right. Besides you can't be with me all the time, you have other things to do as well. And I think I'm going to call my mom. She already knows about the kiss. It would be good to talk to her about the continued kissing too."

The brunette was very surprised at that revelation. "Your mom knows? Why?"

Arizona smiled genuinely at Callie. "Because your incisive calls during Christmas and my just as incisive ignoring of those calls could never slip by my mother's observant nature." The blonde joined the brunette in slight laughter at that. "And I'm glad it couldn't because I needed to talk to someone and let if off my chest. I told her that you kissed me. And that I liked it. And she was so supportive and gave really good advice on the matter. Of course I acted like a moron and didn't follow it, but she was actually really good at dealing with me at that time. She can't wait to meet you by the way. Especially the fireworks at New Year's Eve really did it for her. She already likes you a lot."

Callie smiled at Arizona. "I'm glad. And I'm sure I'll really like her too. She did raise the most amazing woman after all. And I'm pleased you talked to someone then, Arizona. You have no idea how relieved that makes me. I definitely think you should talk to her about the continued kissing too" the brunette smirked at the blonde.

The blonde fumbled with her hands a little bit. "That's okay with you? That I tell her about it? Because the more I think about it, the more I think I need to talk to someone, other than you, about what is happening."

The brunette reached up and put a lock of blonde hair behind the other woman's ear. "Of course it's okay with me, Arizona. In fact I would be eased knowing you'd call her tomorrow. Will you promise me to do that? I want you to be happy and feel good about this. And I don't care who you talk to, to make that happen. You can talk to Teddy too if you want to. It's fine with me."

Arizona shook her head. "No. I'm not ready for that. She'll just be all excited and talk about lesbian double dates and things like that. I love her, but I don't need that right now. But I'll call my mom tomorrow night."

Callie chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right about Teddy." The brunette reached out and drove the other woman in for a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow at work. And maybe we can try to sneak in a little alone time in one of our trailers. Would that make you feel better?"

Arizona nodded onto Callie shoulder, and the brunette hugged the blonde even closer. A couple of minutes later they parted and Arizona smiled at the brunette as she reached up and caressed the other woman's cheek. "Thank you, Callie. For understanding. And for being so incredibly extraordinary."

Callie smiled back. "You're welcome Arizona. You're not alone in this. It's new to me too. And I really want us to figure it out together. But if we are going to have any chance at all at making this work, we need to talk to each other. Look at what happened to Addison and Teddy when they didn't just get it together and tell each other how they really felt. So please promise you'll always talk to me. It's okay if sometimes you just want to be alone, or if you have doubts, because I'm sure I'll have them too, but just promise me not to shut me out. Tell me how you feel and I'll respect that. Always" the brunette said as she looked pleadingly to the blue eyes of the blonde.

"I promise." the blonde answered. "But now you need to go, because you were totally right when you said I was tired. I'm about to fall asleep standing up."

The brunette laughed at the shorter woman before leaning down and giving the blonde one last kiss. "Sweet dreams, Arizona. I'll see you tomorrow." Callie left a smiling blonde at the door and the brunette felt really relieved and happy that Arizona had been honest with her about her worries. That fact made her full of hope for their future.

 **A bit of drama and a bit of fluff for you all here in chapter 13.**

 **Let me know what you thought of it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	14. Chapter 14

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys :)**

 **First of all I would like to say that my thoughts go out to the American people, in particular the families affected by the tragedy in Orlando! It's absolutely horrific!**

 **Secondly thank you for your love for the fluffy chapter 13. And I just realized as I read the reviews that I've never told you guys where I'm from – I actually thought I did :) But I live in the land of the little mermaid, 'hygge', vikings and happiness: DENMARK! :D So naturally I will be cheering on my Nordic brothers from Sweden in the Euro's today. Sorry to all of you Irish people out there – you are very lovely and sweet, but I do hope that the Swedes will kick your ass. ;)**

 **And lastly THANK YOU for all of your early birthday whishes – even though I'm getting old-ish I still really like celebrating my birthday...maybe it's because I like being the center of attention! ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Have fun with this chapter! :)**

CHAPTER 14:

Arizona sat on her couch and fumbled with her phone. She should call her mom. She knew that. But today without Callie had caused exactly the emotions she'd feared it would. And throughout the day the blonde had felt how the doubt and slight panic had inched in on her. When a runner screwed up and got the wrong props for the blonde's scene, effectively ruining the two women's chance to sneak even just a minute together alone as the blonde had been forced to postpone her lunch break, it hadn't helped the situation at all. And the blonde had felt the worried and tense brown eyes on her during her shooting more than once that day.

Callie had texted Arizona before going to Addison and Teddy's apartment for dinner and the blonde had found a little comfort in said text when she got it. And she was sure it was a desperate try from the other woman to try and rein in the blonde's doubts, ease her mind and stop her from running. Arizona opened her phone and found the text again.

 _*Hey you. I just wanted you to know that I'm headed to Addison and Teddy's. I've missed you today Arizona. Please tell me you're free tomorrow night? I'll even make you lasagna again ;) And we can watch 'The Princess Diaries' too. Anything you want! Let me know if you're up for it :) Have you talked to your mom yet? I really hope you'll call her. Text me or call me any time if you need to. Have a good night. – Callie_

Arizona took a deep breath. She could do this. Callie deserved it. Yesterday had been so nice and Callie had been amazing like always and Arizona felt the need to give something back to the brunette. And this was her chance. She closed the text, found her mother's number and dialed her before she changed her mind. Barbara answered within the second ring. "Honey, it's so good to hear from you. How are you?" the older Robbins excitedly stated.

"Hey mom. Can you talk? Or is dad there?" Arizona lay down on the couch and stretched out.

"Of course I can talk. And your dad and Tim went finishing, so the coast is clear. I'm home alone. Are you okay Arizona?" Barbara timidly asked.

The younger blonde sighed into the phone. "I am…and at the same time I'm not. It's…" Arizona felt tears spring to her eyes.

"What's going on? Is something wrong at work?" Barbara questioned, even though she was 100% sure it had nothing to with work and everything to do with a certain brunette. But she didn't want to pressure her daughter.

"No. Work is great. It's Callie. Well actually it's me and Callie. We kissed. Again. Multiple times actually, and it just keeps getting better. And she's so good to me, mom. She's patient and understanding beyond what I deserve. And I'm such a mess. She was here last night for dinner and a movie and we kissed a little and flirted and held hands and everything was just perfect, and then just because I haven't gotten any TLC from her today since she has other engagements this evening, which is perfectly okay, I suddenly doubt everything again. And the only reasons for my doubts are her sex. If she was a guy I wouldn't have hesitated. I would have been all in. How screwed up is that? I should be totally fine with her being a woman. I know lots of gay people for Christ sake" Arizona let out a huff after ending her ramble.

Barbara couldn't help but smile as her daughter spoke of the brunette. She was clearly infatuated by the other woman. But she was also very clearly in distress. "If she was a guy, she wouldn't be the Callie you know and care for sweetheart. But I can't tell you what to do to about your apprehensions about her sex Arizona. I wish I could, but you're the only one who can figure this out. I will however give you a piece of advice. I think you need to let yourself live in the moment, honey. I don't know what's bothering you so much about the fact that she's a woman, but I can understand that you're confused by it. You're almost 29 years old and for the first time ever, you've discovered an attraction to another woman. That is a big deal, sweetie. But you really need to let yourself enjoy life, and everything it brings, for a little while. And just by listening to you talking about her, I can tell that you truly like that life has brought you her."

Arizona smiled into the phone. "Yeah, I really do. God mom, she just…I can't even…she's flawless really. No other words do her justice. Actually no words do her justice."

The older blonde could practically hear her daughter smile on the other side. "Then what are you so scared of, Arizona?" Barbara Robbins asked her daughter cautiously yet lovingly.

The younger blonde sighed. "I don't know. I wish I did mom. But just the thought of having to say the word girlfriend out loud when speaking of her or hold her hand in public is nearly enough to make me pass out on this couch. And that says a lot because I'm lying down already."

Barbara chuckled a little at her daughters words. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself. Has she said anything about wanting to announce to the world that you and she are girlfriends or demanded to hold your hand in public?"

"No. Actually she said quite the opposite. We kind of agreed to take things slow last night. We're sort of friends who kiss occasionally at this point" Arizona replied and slowly felt some of her angst subside.

"Well there you go honey. I have to say it sounds like she's spending a lot of time trying to ease your nerves. And I'm sure she's doing it willingly. But you will run her down eventually if you keep getting ahead of yourself and panicking beforehand making her deal with your apprehensions to stuff that hasn't even happened yet. How is she doing with it all?" the older Robbins woman asked her daughter.

"I don't really know to be honest. I haven't actually asked her that. She seems fine with it the whole being-attracted-to-a-woman thing, but it's obvious she's scared that I'm going to take off again" Arizona said feeling a wave of guilt rush over her.

Barbara sighed a little. "Arizona Robbins, I know I raised you better than that. You need to take her feelings into consideration. I understand that this is hard for you, but you are not the only person in this." The older woman's voice was soft yet stern telling her daughter she meant it.

"I know mom. I know. I'm sorry…" the blonde trailed off.

"I am not the one you need to apologize to, honey" Barbara declared with a strict voice. Then her tone softened as she continued. "I'm sure she understands Arizona. But one day you need to be the one who's there for her. She can't keep carrying this alone. She won't be able to deal with it all by herself in the long run, and you're going to regret it if you let her slip through your fingers, honey. I can tell. So please take my advice and live in the moment. For both of your sakes. And then if or when something arises that makes you freak out, then talk to her about that. Or talk to me if that works better for you."

"I love you, mom. I know I don't tell you a lot, but you're an incredible mom! And you're very wise" the younger blonde let out with a loving and soft voice.

Barbara smiled. "I love you too, honey. You're an incredible daughter. And please congratulate that wonderful woman from me on her Academy Award nomination. That is if she knows you're talking to me" the older woman added.

Arizona smiled brightly at her mother's thoughtfulness. "I will. And she does. It probably won't come as a big surprise to you that she was the one who suggested it. Well she suggested I talked to someone, and then when I told her you already knew about the first kiss, she made me promise to call you and talk to you."

"Of course she did" the older Robbins said with enormous gratitude towards the brunette she had yet to meet. "She really seems like one of a kind Arizona. Please don't let your fears chase her away."

The younger blonde sighed. "I'll do my best not to. Thank you, mom. I don't know what I'd do without you. I've got to go, but please tell Tim and dad I said hi when they're back."

"I will honey. And call me if you need to talk. Anytime" Barbara reassured her daughter.

"I will mom. And thank you again. Bye." With that Arizona hung up. The blonde put her phone on her stomach and just lay there looking at the ceiling. Before she knew what was happening tears were streaming from her eyes and a heartfelt sob left her mouth.

She hated herself so much in that moment. She hated how her mind worked and that she couldn't just be grateful for the exceptional brunette. That she couldn't just be happy and enjoy that such a marvelous person wanted to be with her. Her mother's words had really hit a nerve and the blonde desperately wanted to live by the older Robbins' advice. Arizona needed to learn to live in the moment. She and Callie could deal with the obstacles once they reached them.

The conversation with her mom had also brought on a feeling of guilt that reached into the very center of the blonde's heart. She hadn't even thought to ask how Callie dealt with it all. Looking back the brunette had mentioned more than once to the blonde, that this was new to her too. But Arizona hadn't once thought to directly address what kind of feelings or reactions all of this caused for the brunette. Had Callie even talked to someone about this? Or had she been too busy trying to calm Arizona down?

Arizona took her phone from its resting spot on her stomach and opened her text conversation with Callie. She needed to talk to the brunette.

* * *

Callie had just finished a really nice dinner with Addison and Teddy and the honey-blonde was now in the process of clearing the table while Addison and Callie talked and enjoyed the rest of their wine. Teddy had been uncharacteristically quiet during dinner and the brunette had observed as the honey-blonde stole more than a few glances at her girlfriend.

During dinner Callie couldn't help but let her thoughts wander to Arizona. The brunette was ready to kill the incompetent runner that had messed everything up today and ruined their chance at spending a minute alone together. She'd been able to spot early on that the blonde was very rigid and as the day progressed, getting eye contact with the blonde had become increasingly difficult. Callie had snuck on to the blonde's set as often as she could throughout the day in hopes that just her present would calm the blonde a little.

But when Callie left the set she'd felt really deflated. Arizona was about to panic again that much was clear. And Callie was afraid that it would make her run and quit the whole thing before it even really began. She'd made a last try at grounding the blonde and sent her a text before she took off for dinner. But she hadn't gotten anything in return from Arizona.

"…and you should know that I'm considering handcuffing you to your bed in you trailer!" the red head said as she took a sip of her wine.

Callie laughed "Really Addison? I don't think you should say something like that in front of Teddy. Keeping our undying love a secret becomes very difficult if you out us in front of your girlfriend" the brunette winked at her friend.

Addison threw her napkin at Callie "Oh shut it Torres. You're a penis-fan remember. And you know what I meant. I can't have you tempted by all those amazing job offers you're getting now. I need you on 'Heart and Hospital'. Besides Teddy knows that the only undying love existing in this room is the one I harbor for her."

The red head winked at Teddy who had come back in the room to take out the last two plates. She smiled at Addison and reached for the red head's plate. But she apparently changed her mind, because her hand halted mid-air and instead she went to straddle the seated woman and tangled both of her hands in Addison's hair effectively pulling the red head towards her for a long, extremely passionate and very loving kiss. As they parted Addison had a glazed over look on her face, and Callie couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable seated across from them. That kiss had somehow conveyed so much, and even though Callie didn't exactly know what, she felt like an intruder on a clearly very intimate moment between her two friends.

"I have to admit, that I don't really care about the fact that that was wildly inappropriate in front of Callie, because it was all kinds of amazing. What was that for, my love?" the red head spoke a little out of breath and reached up to put a lock of honey-blonde hair behind Teddy's ear.

"You know I love you like crazy right? And I can't imagine a life with anyone else. You're EVERYTHING to me Addi." Teddy answered clearly very emotional.

Addison got a slightly worried look on her face. "Are you okay? What's happening, Teddy?"

Callie shifted in her chair. "Should I get out of here and leave you two to talk? Because that's not a problem."

Teddy stood up again and reined in her emotions. "Of course you shouldn't go, don't be silly. And I'm sorry. I'm fine. I'm better than fine actually. Because of you" the honey-blonde said softly as she looked at Addison "and I just really need you to know how much I love you and how happy you make me."

Addison smiled at her girlfriend. "I know beautiful. And you make me happy too. Really, really happy."

Teddy smiled back "Anyway I'm going to get these in the dishwasher" she said picking up the red head and the brunette's plates "and then I'm going to go to the den for a movie. Give the two of you a chance to talk. There's more white wine in the fridge if you need it, but I didn't want to open it beforehand because I know you have to drive home, Callie." With that the honey-blonde made her way out of the living room.

"Well that was both weird and very awkward for me" Callie truthfully said when Teddy had left the room. "Is she really okay? What's going on with her?"

Addison sighed. "I don't know. But something is definitely up. I woke up to her staring really intensely at me this morning and we almost didn't have dinner done by the time you got here, because she dragged me to bed the second we made it through the door. Then she made love to me very, very slowly and I swear to you I saw tears in her eyes when she hovered over me as she gave me one of the most amazing and most intense orgasms of my life" the red head finished with a small smile.

"Did you talk to her about it?" Callie asked her friend.

Addison shrugged her shoulder. "I tried. But she keeps saying that nothing's wrong or going on. I think she's told me at least 30 times today that she loves me. Which is nice, although excessive, but not at all like her. I can only hope I didn't do anything wrong. Maybe she's just worried about Arizona."

This got Callie's attention. "Why would she be worried about Arizona?"

"Something's been off with her since Christmas. You probably didn't notice because you've been too busy avoiding her and acting strangely in front of her, according to Teddy anyway" the red head looked at her friend to gawk her reaction to that statement.

Callie felt a little color drain from her face, but managed to school her expression. "Yeah we had kind of a disagreement before Christmas. But it's cool now. We fixed it. I'm sure Teddy's noticed a difference these past few days."

Addison eyed Callie for a second. "Actually she said that Arizona still acted funny when they gossiped in the cafeteria yesterday. Apparently she was too busy ogling Nathan to listen to what Teddy was telling her. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

The brunette's eyes went wide at that statement "Nathan?! I don't think so. Teddy must have misread something."

"I really hope so, because I still think he's got the hots for you and that will just be all kinds of complicated. I don't need no complex love triangle happening on set" the red head stated as she took a sip of wine.

"Don't worry your pretty head, because it won't. I don't have the hots for Nathan in any way. He's all Arizona's, should she want him. Which, for the record, I have a hard time picturing. She would have told me. And you can tell Teddy that I think Arizona is back to her old self, and if she needs to talk to anyone she can talk to her. She'll listen" Callie replied.

As Callie finished a loud ding was heard throughout the room notifying Callie she had a text. The brunette took her phone from her purse and opened it. She felt a sense of relief when Arizona's name flashed across the screen. It took a lot of effort from the brunette not to let a giant smile take over her every feature as she read the text.

 _*Hey Callie. I hope you're enjoying dinner with Ads and Teds. I just wanted you to know that I called my mom. We talked for quite some time and I'm really happy you made me call her. I was just wondering if maybe you could come by real quick when you leave Teddy and Addison? I'd like to talk to you. It's not urgent or bad or anything and please don't rush to get here. Enjoy your night and just come by on your way home. It doesn't matter what time it is. I'll be waiting. – Arizona_

The brunette felt comforted by the words in the text and she quickly typed out a reply.

 _*Hi. I'm so happy to hear from you. And I can absolutely swing by on my way home. I'll try not to be too late. See you. – Callie_

Callie put her phone back in her purse and looked up to find Addison looking intensely at her. "What?"

"Who was that from?" Addison asked her friend suspiciously.

"Why would you want to know that?" Callie asked back. She knew from that look, that Addison was kind of on to her. The red head definitely knew that something was going on, and Callie feared that maybe she hadn't been quite as good at schooling her features minutes earlier as she'd hoped.

"Because you got this happy look on your face. And I liked that. I want to know who put it there" Addison replied.

Callie almost breathed a sigh of relief. She could work with this. "Oh. Well it was nothing really. It was just Rei. Aria, Jael and I gave her this hot air balloon trip for Christmas, she'd been waiting to try that forever. And she went today and absolutely loved it." The brunette was relieved with both her fast thinking and the fact that she hadn't told Addison about it, when Rei had texted her earlier that day.

Addison glanced at the time on the wall. "I think that she's up pretty late for a 14-year old who has to go to school tomorrow. But I know she's a straight-A student and she does know how to wrap your dad around her little finger, probably in regards of bedtimes too, so I'm not going to question it."

The brunette couldn't help but feel a little guilty lying to her friend. Even though she tried to tell herself it was only a white lie because Rei had in fact texted her. Just not right now. Callie really wanted to tell Addison about her and Arizona, but she knew that the red head's reaction would probably be similar to the one, Arizona thought Teddy would have. And she and Arizona needed to figure this out quietly. "It's the truth Addison. She texted me saying thank you. She's probably about to go to bed."

"I'm not accusing you of flat out lying Callie. I'm just saying that it has a slight suspiciousness to it. And if for some reason it isn't the whole truth, then I'm sure you have your reasons." Addison declared.

The brunette smiled at her friend. "You and your girl are to observant for your own good sometimes – seeing things and being suspicious about things that aren't even there. But you're both pretty great, and I'm happy to call you my friends!" Callie tried to change the subject.

Addison chuckled. "Well we kind of rile each other up sometimes. But you'd tell me if you were seeing someone new right? I hope you're not worried I'd think it's too soon or anything, because I don't. I want you to be happy Callie."

And there it was. The question that Callie had to tell a flat out lie to respond to. She put on her best smile and aimed it at the red head across from her. "Of course I would, Ads. And thank you. I'm just not there yet, though."

The red head smiled back. "That's okay. Once prince charming arrives you'll be ready. I know it."

"Thank you" Callie really wanted this conversation to be over. Now. She glanced over her shoulder to find the kitchen empty and the door to the den closed. "So have you thought more about how you're going to do what we talked about the other night?" the brunette said in a hushed voice.

Addison sighed in reply. "I have. But I can't seem to come up with anything. I almost juts got up to get the ring and do it butt naked in our bedroom after she made love to me this afternoon. But luckily I restrained myself because that would not be a story for our parents or our future kids and grandkids."

Callie laughed at the image of a naked Addison on one knee in front of an equally naked Teddy. "Well I'm glad you did too, because I wouldn't have gotten any dinner for sure if that had happened. You two wouldn't have gotten out of bed for the rest of the night. Come to think of it, you should do it during a weekend or some sort of break, because you are definitely going to need a few days before you get enough of each other. I know you guys" the brunette added.

Addison smirked. "Yeah you're probably right about that. I'm a little frustrated because I haven't been able to think of anything though. I'm supposed to know her. Know what she likes and all that. But still I haven't gotten a single idea."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out Addison. And for the record I still don't think she'll care. She'll love it no matter what" Callie said with certainty and sent Addison a reassuring smile.

"I really hope you're right. I can't help but worry that she'll say no. Just three months ago she left me because I was an idiot. What if she thinks it's too soon?" the red head asked with a tremor to her voice.

Callie reached across the table and took one of her friend's hands. "But you've been together for almost two and a half years Addison. Three months ago was just a bump on the road. A misunderstanding. You two seem stronger than ever now. Plus from the show I got earlier, I'm fairly convinced she's not going to say no" the brunette let out with a chuckle.

Addison joined her friend in her laughter. "I guess you're right. I have to think of something soon though because I can already feel that damn ring burning a hole in my pocket."

* * *

The ringing of her doorbell tore Arizona's focus from the documentary on the TV and she got up to open the door. When she did, she lost all ability to think. Callie was dressed in skinny light blue jeans, a black top, a leather jacket and high heeled ankle boots. Her hair was down in soft waves and swept to one side, and she had on a smokey-eye makeup that highlighted the deep chocolate color of her eyes. The brunette smiled brightly at the blonde. Arizona couldn't remember a time, when the brunette had ever looked more beautiful to her.

Arizona couldn't help herself in that moment. She stepped forward and claimed Callie's lips in a searing kiss. The blonde maneuvered the brunette inside the apartment by the other woman's hips and closed the door without breaking contact with the taller woman's lips.

It was clear to Arizona that Callie was surprised at the blonde's gesture, but as the blonde tangled her hands in brown locks, the brunette finally relaxed and responded to the kiss. Callie's tongue traced Arizona's lips and when the pink lips parted, Callie was met with a ferocity from the other woman's tongue like nothing she'd ever experienced before. It was the most passionate kiss of her life. The brunette had no idea what was going on, but she knew without a doubt, that she liked it. In fact she never wanted it to end. And neither did the blonde. But when Arizona couldn't hold her breath a second longer without passing out, she reluctantly released the brunette's lips and leaned her forehead against Callie's. She heard the brunette gasp for air and smiled a little before Callie breathed out with a ragged breath. "Good talk with your mom?"

Arizona chuckled and looked at Callie with teary eyes. "Yeah" she spoke almost not loud enough for the brunette to hear.

Callie's ecstasy from the greatest kiss of her life was replaced with worry as she looked at the blonde's clear blue eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" A single tear trickled down an ivory cheek and the brunette reached up and gently dried it away.

"I don't deserve you. I treat you horribly, Callie. Why do you even put up with me?" the blonde let out in a defeated tone.

The brunette looked at the blonde with confusion. By the text from the blonde and the greeting she was met with Callie would have guessed the blonde's conversation with her mother had gone well. Very well. "Arizona what are you talking about?"

The blonde took a step back and gathered her thoughts. "I talked to my mom. And she made some very good points and I'm going to try very hard to just live in the moment and enjoy life. Enjoy you. Because I really, really like you."

Callie stepped towards the blonde, but Arizona stepped back. "I really like you too, Arizona. Please come here" the brunette reached out her hand for the blonde to take, but the other woman just shook her head.

"No. I need to say something to you. And I'll get distracted if you're too close to me" the blonde stated.

The brunette felt a pang of hurt by the blonde's refusal to come to her even though she knew she shouldn't. She nodded her head for the blonde to continue.

"I'm so sorry that all this has been about me Callie. My mom asked how you were dealing with this and it wasn't until I didn't have an answer for her, that it occurred to me, that I've never taken the time to ask you that. Every one of our talks has been about me and my ridiculous meltdowns. I don't know if you're freaking out too or if you even talked to anyone about this, and I'm so incredibly sorry. Because I might be really confused about all of this but I want you to be able to talk to me too. I want to know how you're feeling. I want you to be happy when you're with me. And I want you to be able to be happy about whatever is going on between us, when we're not together, and not spend your time holding back and worrying if I'll run again. And don't say you don't, because I know you do Callie. And you're so perfect and good and know just what to say to ease my nerves. But I want to be the one to ease your nerves too. I mean if you need it. Which you probably don't because you're…" the blonde was cut off as Callie took two big steps forward , snaked one of her arms around the blonde's midsection, pulled her in and connected her soft lips briefly with Arizona's.

Callie pulled back, released Arizona from her hold and cupped both of the blonde's cheeks with her hands. "First of all I need to meet your mom, because she has some serious Callie Torres love coming her way." The brunette smiled as the blonde giggled slightly.

"Secondly it's okay Arizona. You're working on it. And that makes all the difference in the world to me. Right now you need to talk more than I do. And I'm fine with that right now. Because to answer your question, I'm not freaking out. Not significantly anyway. And I talked to my sister, Jael, during Christmas break. But it was mostly about my frustrations with you completely ignoring me to be honest. But she made me see things from your point of view. And your meltdowns are not ridiculous Arizona. In fact I think they are very valid. Of course this is an adjustment. I can't say that I wasn't really worried today, that you would get caught in full out panic mode today and hide out until you could hightail it to Georgia or somewhere else. But you didn't. You stuck to your promise and called your mom. And then you texted me to come here tonight and greeted me with the kiss of a lifetime. You've done good Arizona and this has ended up being a pretty good day" the brunette joked.

The blonde laughed and aimed a dimpled smile at the brunette. "Thank you Callie. And I'm sorry about the greeting but I couldn't not kiss you when you stood there looking like that. You're stunning. I have never seen you look this beautiful!"

"Don't EVER apologize for a greeting like that. It was awesome. And thank you. You look beautiful too" Callie said as she leaned in slightly. "Are we done for now? Is it okay for me to kiss you without it being with the intention of shutting you up?"

Arizona put her arms around Callie's waist. "Please do" she whispered against the brunette's lips.

Callie then covered the blonde's lips with her own. The brunette didn't waste time and parted her lips begging for the blonde to do the same. Arizona instantly granted Callie access and felt as Callie softly let her tongue rotate around her own. This kiss was unhurried and tender. The blonde felt like her insides was exploding in bliss and she pulled the brunette closer by the waist.

When they pulled apart Callie looked at Arizona. "I think you're so very special Arizona. And I enjoy every single second I get to spend with you. Even when you're rambling like a maniac"

The blonde chuckled and pinched the brunette's side. "Hey. I do NOT ramble like a maniac. And I enjoy every single second with you too" Arizona reached up and ran her hands through Callie's long hair. "How was your dinner with Addison and Teddy?"

Callie closed her eyes at the feeling and hummed before replying "It was good. Interesting. Teddy's acting weird towards Addison and apparently you're a little lovesick for Nathan."

Arizona growled "Oh my God is Teddy still on that? I told her I wasn't! And she has good reasons to act weird. But I can't tell you about it, remember."

"Apparently you were staring at him in the cafeteria yesterday. And like I said yesterday it's okay that you don't tell me" the brunette replied as she continued to enjoy the blonde's caress of her hair, still with her eyes closed.

"I wasn't staring at him in the cafeteria yesterday" Arizona huffed.

Callie opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at Arizona. "According to Addison, Teddy saw you staring at him, Arizona. It's okay. He is very handsome and all" Callie spoke softly.

"I wasn't staring at Nathan!" Arizona stated sternly. Then she sighed and her voice softened. "I was staring at you, okay. You were laughing and being all beautiful NEXT TO Nathan. Luckily Teddy didn't even let her mind go there, and she just assumed I was ogling Nathan."

Callie's smile got bigger than the blonde ever thought possible. "You were staring at me?"

"Yes I was staring at you, okay. I do it every chance I get honestly, which by the way is not nearly enough. But yesterday I kind of zoned out while doing it and that was what got me in trouble. I completely missed what Teddy was telling me. And wipe that smug smile off your face" Arizona let out with a small chuckle.

The brunette leaned down and placed a kiss on the side of the blonde's mouth. "Well you can stare at me any time you want. Next time I'm here, I can just sit on a chair in the middle of the room and you can walk around me staring at me from all angles for as long as you like."

Arizona laughed "I think that might be exaggerating it just a bit. But that reminds me; I am free tomorrow by the way. And we don't have to eat lasagna again, but I will hold you to watching 'The Princess Diaries'."

Callie laughed before replying sincerely and with a glint in her eyes "I can't wait."

 **That's chapter 14. I hope you enjoyed it guys!**

 **Let me know :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	15. Chapter 15

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys :)**

 **I'm back with chapter 15 after an awesome birthday yesterday. Getting older is no big deal when you're surrounded by amazing people. And thank you for your birthday wishes too.**

 **This is a really long chapter. One of the longest yet. And if I'd known that this was the chapter we'd reached I would have posted it yesterday due to the theme ;) But here it is now.**

 **AZsgirl: I know right! That woman should be on display somewhere giving the rest of us the opportunity to admire her up close ;)**

 **Krista: Right now Lexie isn't entering this story. Not yet anyway. I have other plans with Mark for now. But I have considered making her a part of this installment later on because I really did like her character on Grey's.**

 **Guest: For now I don't have any intentions of making Callie and Arizona an on-screen couple as well, but I'll consider it in future chapters :)**

 **Oh and you should all visit Denmark sometime, because it's really great and beautiful here – and if you go, then do yourself a favor and don't just go to Copenhagen. That city is really great, but Denmark's got so much more to offer than that :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

CHAPTER 15:

Ten days had passed since Arizona had talked to her mom and Callie was delighted to see that the blonde had an entirely different attitude towards the whole thing now. She still freaked out from time to time, but it was evident that she'd made a decision to just try and enjoy herself. She was more relaxed in Callie's company and she never hesitated to take the brunette's hand, kiss her or caress her when the two of them were alone in the confines of one of their homes. Their kisses slowly increased in frequency and intensity the more comfortable they got with each other and the brunette liked it. She liked how they took their time with each other and she liked how she felt the trust between them built. The brunette felt herself relax more and more as a result of that. She was slowly just giving in to the feelings she was growing for the other woman.

Callie really liked the way their relationship, if one could call it that, worked. Often she had to restrain herself at work because the more she got to be with the blonde alone in private the more she wanted to be able to run her hand through soft blonde locks or down an ivory cheek at work too. But when at the set the two of them were friends. And that was nice too. That gave them the chance to just talk as friends when enjoying a cup of coffee. Which is exactly what they were doing right now.

"I'm just saying you should totally take advantage of the situation. Try on lots of different dresses from really extravagant designers and pick the one that makes you look the best. Take your time. It is an Oscar dress after all. You don't want to end up on the worst dressed list the first time you're nominated" Arizona said with a smile at Callie.

Callie sighed. "I know. It's just really time consuming you know! With fittings and then if the first few dresses aren't really it, they send me new ones. I'm kind of tempted to just pick the first one I like and that looks good on me."

"Well you really shouldn't settle for 'good' because on a night like that you should look amazing. You should pick out a dress that does you and your beauty justice. But you and Mark will undoubtedly be the hottest couple on the red carpet that night" the blonde winked at the brunette who got a slight blush on her cheeks. "It's really nice of you to take him by the way. He's so happy and grateful for that."

"Honestly he is the only one I want there with me. My performance in that movie is as much his achievement as mine. He was my rock during that time. It was a really hard movie to do and most nights I came home and just collapsed onto him crying" Callie replied with a nostalgic yet sad smile.

Arizona looked at the woman across from her. Her heart had momentarily clenched when Callie had said that Mark was the only one the brunette wanted with her at the Oscars, but she knew that wasn't fair. Callie had been with Mark when she made that movie, and even though Mark had left her shortly after there was no doubt that the man had been important to the brunette during that time.

The blonde really thrived being with the other woman now, and she found herself liking Callie more and more. Every little thing she found out about the brunette just served to unfold the person that was Callie Torres and every time she learned a little more she was even more smitten with the gorgeous brunette. Arizona was delighted that she talked to her mom, because the blonde let herself feel so much more at ease when she was in the arms of the brunette, and, more importantly, when she wasn't in the arms of the brunette. Lately that had meant that she just couldn't get enough of being with Callie. They kissed more and it was now very rare that they weren't in some sort of physical contact when they visited each other. They held hands during dinner and they cuddled up on the couch for movies with occasional make out sessions that continued to grow in intensity. And Arizona felt lighter hearted than she could ever remember feeling before.

The blonde tore her eyes away from the smiling Callie as she caught Teddy approaching their table from the right. "Hi Teds. How are you doing?"

The honey blonde stopped between the two women and smiled at the blonde before doing the same at Callie. "Hey. I'm good. I was actually just looking for you Arizona."

"Oh yeah? Why?" The blonde asked her friend. She wondered if the honey-blonde once again wanted to discuss her findings of the engagement ring in her girlfriend's bag.

"Well a little birdy named Addison drew my attention to the fact that your birthday is tomorrow" Teddy said with a smirk at her friend.

"What?" Callie asked uncomprehending as she looked at Arizona. "Tomorrow is your birthday? Why didn't I know that?"

The blonde really cursed Teddy in that moment. It's not that she didn't want the brunette to know, she just didn't want her to do anything over the top. And she had a feeling, that Callie was an over-the-top kind of girl in regards of celebrations. New Year's Eve only served to prove the blonde's point. And things were going good. They were nice and relaxed and slow and Arizona didn't want to risk that.

Arizona looked at Callie who seemed rather upset about the revelation. "Callie I didn't purposely withhold the information from you. It just never came up."

By the look on the brunette's face, Arizona could tell, that the brunette found the excuse as ridiculous as she did herself. But it was the best she could come up with on the spot.

"Never came up? It's tomorrow! When would you have said anything?" Callie exclaimed.

The blonde had no idea what to say to the woman across from her. Luckily Teddy came to her rescue. "Well, there's no changing that now. She didn't tell me either, Addison did remember. And relax Callie, it's not like she didn't tell you she was getting married or something like that. It's only her birthday. Besides it doesn't matter, because now we know. And luckily there's still plenty of time to figure something out. What do you feel like doing Arizona? We should celebrate."

Arizona glanced at Callie, who had an unreadable expression on her face. "I haven't really thought about it. It's no big deal, you know. I'd just planned to stay in actually. But maybe now, the three of us could go out. Addison too. I mean if she wants to. Just have a drink or something like that, since it's Friday and all." The blonde smiled at Teddy.

When the blonde looked back at Callie she could tell that was not what the brunette had wanted to hear. It was too late though, because Teddy was already on board with the whole thing. "That's an excellent idea. We should totally do that. I'll go talk to Addison about it right away."

The honey-blonde left the table and Arizona turned apprehensively to the brunette. "Callie…"

"Don't even bother Arizona." With that the brunette got up and left the cafeteria. Arizona groaned and put her head in her hands. She should have known that would backfire.

* * *

Callie was angry! Pissed off! M-A-D! But most of all she was hurt. A birthday was a big deal. Had it been her, whose birthday had been that close, she would have told the blonde without hesitation. And she had no idea why in the world the blonde would keep it from her. Things were good, weren't they?

The brunette could feel the tears prick in her eyes. Callie had thought the last ten days had been really good. Callie had felt like her and Arizona had found a rhythm and common understanding in whatever it was they were doing. And the brunette had felt that the blonde had opened up and been honest about her feelings. Sure there had been a few incidents but a full out panic mode had been dodged, because Arizona had talked to Callie about it before it could settle in. But now, sitting alone in her trailer, the brunette felt that all she thought her and Arizona were starting to build slowly crumbled around her. Because Arizona purposely withheld very significant personal information from the brunette. Callie couldn't hold it back anymore and the tears spilt from her eyes.

A few minutes later there was incisive knocking on the door. Callie held her breath for a second. "Callie I know you're in there. Please let me in." The brunette groaned and hung her head at the sound of the blonde's voice and the continued knocking. She reluctantly got up and switched the lock on the door. Then she sat down on the bed again.

Seconds later the door was opened and Arizona stepped in. "Woah Callie, it's like a flower shop in here" the blonde said in awe of the many bouquets scattered around inside the trailer.

"Yeah, they just kind of keep on coming, and I promised you I wouldn't bring any of them home, remember" Callie let out with a slight annoyance.

Arizona looked at the brunette and felt her heart break at the sight. It was very evident that Callie had been crying. And Arizona knew it was because of her. She slowly approached the brunette but stopped a few feet away. "I'm sorry Callie."

"You're sorry? Why Arizona? Because you didn't tell me or because you got caught not telling me? Would you just have let tomorrow pass by like any other day, and then a number of months from now been all 'oh yeah, by the way, my birthday is January 25th'!"

Arizona walked all the way to the other woman and squatted in front of her placing her hands on the brunette's thighs. "I honestly don't know Callie. I hadn't thought that far ahead. And while I am sorry for not telling you, that's not what I'm apologizing for. I'm sorry because I obviously hurt you and I've never meant to do that" the blonde said softly.

Arizona watched as Callie struggled to avoid eye contact with her and it made the blonde incredibly regretful. Finally though, brown eyes locked on blue ones. "Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday, Arizona. And please, please don't lie to me" Callie pleaded with the other woman.

Arizona sighed. "I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd make a big deal out of it. And I don't want that. Things between us are really good and I like the way our friendship works right now."

"Make a big deal out of it? What the hell did you think I'd do?" the brunette asked completely ignoring the last part of the blonde's statement as she rose from her position on the bed and stepped past the squatting Arizona. The anger was slowly rising within her and she needed to get some space.

The blonde rose too and looked at the furious brunette. She desperately wanted to make this better, but she found that she quickly lost all control of the conversation. "I don't know Callie. But look at what you did at New Year's Eve. I can only imagine what you'd do this time." As soon as the blonde said it, she knew it had been the wrong thing to say. And she was right. The brunette's eyes widened with an amount of wrath and sorrow that Arizona had never witnessed in those chocolate brown eyes before. And in that moment she prayed to God that she'd never see it again.

"I can't believe you Arizona! I can't believe you just used that AGAINST me. I did that to make you happy! To make sure that you had a perfect New Year's Eve. Because I was afraid that I'd ruined it for you. But apparently I shouldn't have bothered. Don't worry though, I'll learn from my mistake." Callie couldn't help as the tears once again made their way down her cheeks. The mixture of anger and hurt was just too much.

Arizona stepped towards Callie, but a risen hand stopped her. "Don't you even think about coming over here! I'm so mad at you I can't even…" Callie exhaled through gritted teeth.

The blonde halted straight away. There was no doubt that the brunette was serious and Arizona swallowed as she watched Callie try to calm her raging Latina temper.

Callie took a deep breath and looked at Arizona with a slightly softer look. "Do you even want to spend your birthday with me?"

Arizona gave Callie a pensive look before saying "I don't know." Callie recoiled but Arizona decided to get everything of her chest before the brunette undoubtedly threw her out of her trailer. "This is all coming out all wrong. I LOVED what you did at New Year's Eve, but that was a total different time. Our friendship was totally different Callie, and with all that's been going on, I just didn't want to risk that the kind of friendship we've reached was jeopardized. And I want to spend my birthday with you, Callie. But with my friend-friend Callie and not my friend-that-I-occasionally-kiss Callie. Because we're not there yet. I'm not there yet. Which is why I didn't tell you. But I would really like for us to go out for drinks with Addison and Teddy tomorrow night. And I get why you're mad and hurt, and I know I've messed this up big time" the blonde said dejectedly.

"Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head with that one" the brunette said straight faced. A couple tears were still making their way down her cheeks and Callie aggressively dried them off. "You need to leave Arizona, because I need to get myself together before going back to set" the brunette let out with the softest voice yet.

Arizona was surprised at the change in tone from the brunette but just nodded her head. Making her way to the door she paused with her side turned to the taller woman. "Can I hug you?" the blonde asked lowly.

"No thank you" was the instant and very adamant reply from the other woman, and Arizona felt sadness engulf her as she made her way out of the other woman's trailer.

* * *

Callie had successfully managed to pull herself together for the rest of her scenes after her less than pleasant rendez-vouz with Arizona in her trailer. Now she was so ready to go home though. Throughout the rest of the day Callie had felt the tears linger in the back of her eyes which had exhausted her and now she just wanted to go home, take a long shower and just flush all of her pent up tears down the drain.

She sighed loudly as she got closer to her car though. Because leaning against it was the one person she didn't want to see right now. Arizona stood up straight as she saw Callie approach the vehicle. The brunette stepped right up to the blonde reached behind her and yanked the door to the driver's seat open. The blonde leaned back though, effectively halting the other woman from opening the door entirely.

"Move away from the door Arizona" Callie gave the blonde her best pissed off look.

"No." The blonde shook her head. "Not until you let me explain again because I didn't do a really good job at it earlier."

"Arizona, get the hell away from the door. NOW" the brunette raised her voice slightly and the blonde hesitated for a second.

"NO" the blonde fired back with an equally raised voice. "Not until you give me another chance."

Callie felt all fight leave her body and the tears brimmed her eyes once again. "Please move away from the door Arizona. I just want to go home. Please"

Arizona was very shocked at the sudden change in the other woman's demeanor but still held her stance. "I will if you'll let me follow you to your place."

"It's a free country, you can do whatever the hell you want" Callie pointed out.

"Will you let me in your house if I do?" Arizona asked the obviously emotional brunette.

Callie looked at the sky for second and exhaled loudly. "Fiiine!"

With a nod at her head in thanks, the blonde moved from the door and Callie got in, turned on her car and drove off.

Arizona made her way to her own car. She had to get it together, because she was fairly certain that she'd only get one chance at making this right with the other woman. The whole way there Arizona practiced a speech in her head that was meant to make the brunette see why Arizona didn't tell her about the birthday.

All her thoughts left her mind though as she found a really defeated looking Callie sitting on the porch step. Arizona parked her car and made her way to the other woman. "Callie, can we go inside?"

Callie looked at Arizona. The brunette felt as if she had absolutely no energy left. "I really just want to get it over with. Just say what you have to say."

The blonde shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "I'd really rather not have your neighbors as witnesses to this" Arizona stated as she looked around.

The brunette hung her head at that. The blonde was right. Wordlessly Callie rose from her position, unlocked the door and made her way inside. She didn't even take of her shoes, but just made her way silently to the couch.

Arizona followed the other woman. She had no idea how to fix this. She'd never seen Callie like this ever before. The brunette had always been so strong and put together, but right now she looked like she didn't even care about fixing this, and that made chills run throughout the blonde's body. Maybe it was all too late. Arizona sat down on the coffee table and looked at Callie.

"I need to tell you that you are magnificent Callie. I really like you a lot, more every day in fact, and I'm so sorry for hurting you. And I know I did that multiple times today because the things I wanted to say came out wrong and not at all like I intended" the brunette lifted her gaze and locked it on the blonde's. Arizona was sad as she once again spotted tears running down the brunette's cheeks. She couldn't help but reach out and dry them away with her thumbs.

"Please don't cry Callie. Please. I'm sorry. I DO want to spend my birthday with you. Very much. But my feelings for you are escalating so fast and I just know that if I told you that tomorrow was my birthday you'd do all sorts of special things for me, and a whole night of special things with you would be amazing but also totally over the top. And I'm not ready for that. Not yet. But once I am, I would love nothing more than for you to do all kinds of extravagant things for me. So please just keep all of your ideas in your beautiful head. Because I know you won't be able to control yourself when I let you loose and I honestly can't wait until I'm at that point. But this birthday is not a time for extravagant things. Please respect that" the blonde spoke truthfully.

Callie looked at Arizona and even though her expression had softened she was undoubtedly still very hurt by the blonde's actions. "You could have told me that from the beginning. And of course I'll respect that Arizona, I'm not mean and insensitive. All I've ever wanted is for you to trust in me and be honest with me. To give me an indication we are in fact in this together. And no matter what's going on, you are my friend and no matter how our relationships is, I would like to know when your birthday is and I would like the opportunity to give you a present. And even though I don't believe that there's any way I can difference between friend-friend Callie and friend-that-you-occasionally-kiss Callie I promise that my present will be strictly friendly if you want it to. No underlying intentions whatsoever."

Arizona smiled. "Of course you can give me a present Callie. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. And we'll go to drinks with Teddy and Addison?"

The brunette slowly nodded her head. "Yeah we can do that."

"Can I hug you now?" the blonde timidly asked.

Callie gave Arizona a small smile as she sniffled. "You better!"

With that Arizona was off the coffee table and straddling Callie. She hugged the brunette with all she had, in a desperate try to let the woman know just how much she meant to the blonde. "How old are you turning anyway?" was said with a muffled voice into the crook of her neck and Arizona felt it more than heard it.

She pulled back a little and smiled at Callie. "29. What about you? When's your birthday?"

The brunette eyed the other woman for a second before answering "I'm an oldie. I'll be 31 on May 14th. Not that you couldn't have gotten that information on my Wikipedia page" Callie joked and Arizona was so grateful that it seemed like a little of the brunette's spirit was back even though she still looked very dejected.

"Well I'm sorry I didn't think of checking that out. I'd rather have you tell me anyway though. Get it from the super star herself." Arizona smiled at Callie.

The brunette smiled a little and reached up to play with a lock of blonde hair that had loosened itself from the other woman's ponytail. "Please promise you won't keep important things about yourself from me again? I want to know everything about you Arizona. I want to be let in."

The vulnerability in the brunette's plea was very clear to Arizona and she didn't hesitate for a second before replying "I promise. I'm really, really sorry." And the blonde meant it. She would never want to see the other woman like this again.

"Thank you. Could I maybe be friend-you-occasionally-kiss Callie now and have a kiss?" the brunette asked softly before pursing her lips slightly in a very appealing way.

"Of course" Arizona said before leaning in and placing her lips on Callie's in a lingering peck.

"Thank you" Callie replied when Arizona pulled back. "And now you need to go home. I'm exhausted to my bone from letting the waterworks loose earlier and then holding it back for the rest of the day, and you need to be well rested for your birthday drinks tomorrow."

The blonde smiled and stole one last, quick kiss before getting off of Callie and walking to the door with the brunette on her heels. She turned around as she reached the door and looked at the brunette. "Thank you for letting me come here. It would have been the worst birthday ever if I'd had to spend the day knowing you were that mad and sad because of me."

The brunette smiled back. "Thank you for being persistent, for pursuing me and not taking 'no' for an answer. Get home safely."

With that Arizona made her way to the car. When she reached it she turned around to wave at the other woman, but the door was already shut behind her and Callie was nowhere to be seen. The small relief Arizona had felt earlier was suddenly gone and she feared that he stupidity had made their relationship fallback to how it was before she talked to her mom.

Inside Callie sighed and leaned against her door with closed eyes. Tears once again pricked in them. The brunette was so happy that Arizona had pursued her, but at the same time she was worried that the blonde didn't see the way of her errors, but just apologized because Callie reacted the way she did, and Arizona felt the need to. Callie was pleasantly surprised though that the blonde had made an effort to make things better. She walked to the couch, found her phone and pressed the contact for her agent.

When the other woman replied Callie said repentant. "Hi Natalie. I'm so terribly sorry to be calling this late. Am I interrupting anything?"

"Of course not Callie. And it's perfectly okay, I'm still at the office anyway. What can I do for you?" the woman on the other end asked.

Callie smiled and made a mental note to send her agent something nice one of these days. The woman had been working non-stop since the Academy Award nominations came out and the brunette knew it wouldn't let up any time soon.

"I was just calling about the tickets for tomorrow you offered me a while back. Do you think maybe it would still be a possibility to get those?" Callie asked. The event tomorrow was Callie's luck at this point because finding a proper present for the blonde at this time would have been impossible.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. How many do you need?" Natalie asked.

"Just two. But I actually won't be the one using them. Please let them know that Arizona Robbins and Teddy Altman will be attending it" the brunette stated.

"Okay. But are you sure you don't want me to you get three tickets? Or four maybe? It won't be a problem Callie." The other woman asked the actress, knowing about Teddy's relationship with Callie's best friend.

Callie nodded her head while answering. "I'm sure. Thank you Natalie. I really owe you one."

Natalie laughed at the other end. "Well I have a feeling that being your agent will cause me to earn some serious money really soon. And you're doing rather well as it is already, so consider us even. I'm happy to do this for you. I see us as friends Callie, and I WANT to help you out when I can."

Callie smiled into her phone. "You're the best Nat. And I consider us friends too."

"That's good. Go to bed Callie, you sound tired. I'll have the tickets delivered to your trailer tomorrow morning. Sweet dreams super star" Natalie said before disconnecting the call.

The brunette smiled briefly while looking at her phone before standing up and making her way to her bedroom.

* * *

Arizona stepped on to the set the next day with a smile on her face. She'd woken up to a birthday text from Callie and her mom, dad and Tim had Facetimed her congratulating her when she ate breakfast.

"Good morning blondie. You really think a birthday is reason enough to skip out on morning workout?" Mark asked as he made his way towards the blonde smiling, when she made it onto the set.

"Good morning to you too Mark. And yes I decided that today of all days I got to NOT get up at the ass crack of dawn. But you should be grateful for that. Then you had at least one day where I didn't kick your ass in the gym" Arizona replied with a playful smirk.

The man laughed loudly at that. "Touché!" Then he reached out and pulled the blonde woman into a hug. "Happy birthday Arizona" Mark stated truthfully.

"Thank you" the blonde smiled into his shoulder.

The door to the set was opened and one of the PA's stuck his head in the room. "Hey guys. Happy birthday Arizona. Addison sent me to get you two to come to the cafeteria." Before the duo could question it the young man had left again.

Arizona looked at Mark who just shrugged his shoulder. Then the blonde looped her arm through Marks, and they made their way towards the cafeteria.

When Mark opened the door and held it for the blonde a round of 'congratulations' sounded out. Almost all of her colleagues were gathered in the room and Teddy wasted no time making her way to Arizona hugging her tightly. "Happy birthday you!" the honey-blonde let out and smiled brightly at Arizona as she pulled back.

Addison made her way to the blonde next and hugged her briefly. "Happy birthday, Arizona. And sorry about all of this, it's just tradition that the first birthday celebrated while working here starts with breakfast with your colleagues. I hope it's okay?"

Arizona smiled at her boss. "Of course it's okay Addison. Thank you" the blonde stated truthfully.

Callie who had lured in the background made her way to the blonde. She couldn't help but smile really big when she saw the twinkle in the other woman's eyes. She stopped in front of her and held out an envelope for the other woman to take. "Happy birthday Arizona" Callie said as neutrally as possible.

The blonde took the envelope from the taller woman. As she did their fingers briefly brushed and Arizona couldn't help but dwell in the feeling of the other woman's skin against her own, however briefly the contact had been.

She opened the envelope and pulled out two tickets along with a card. She looked at the tickets and her eyes widened. They were for the Adele concert tonight. The tickets had been sold out in mere minutes when they were released, and Arizona had been totally bummed, because she'd really wanted to go. She looked up at the brunette in front of her. "Callie…" Arizona started, but she was cut off by the other woman.

"Read the card Arizona" the brunette smiled at Arizona.

The blonde opened up the card. She smiled as she began reading it.

 _Dear Arizona.  
Happy 29th birthday. I hope this day will be one for the story books.  
I'm sorry about the gift but as you know I was kind of last minute with it (To be honest I don't even know if you like Adele), but I hope that you and Teddy will have fun together and enjoy the concert and the VIP treatment.  
Addison and I will be waiting to hear all about it at 'The Circle'. Enjoy your day.  
All the best from your friend Callie._

Arizona was speechless as she once again looked at the smiling brunette. Callie had obviously listened to what the blonde said yesterday. Then she looked to her honey-blonde friend whose smile Arizona was sure matched her own.

The blonde stepped up to Callie and hugged her tight for a couple of seconds making sure to release her within the time limit for an appropriate, friendly hug. She locked her eyes on deep chocolate brown ones. "Thank you so much Callie. It's the perfect gift. I love Adele. And I can't wait for drinks at 'The Circle' afterwards" Arizona exclaimed as she let Callie know that getting drinks with the brunette at the high end cocktail bar would absolutely be one of the highlights of her birthday.

"You're welcome Arizona. I'm glad you like it. And I look forward to that as well" the brunette said.

An arm was swung around the blonde's shoulder and Arizona turned her gaze to her honey-blonde friend. "I love Adele too. And I can't wait for some quality time with you" Teddy smiled at Arizona before turning her attention to the brunette. "And thank you again Callie. You're still sure you don't want to join the birthday girl at the concert?"

Callie smiled at Teddy. "I'm sure." The brunette then looped her arm through Addison's. "Besides I could really use some quality time with this one, so it's perfect actually. You two enjoy Adele."

The foursome was interrupted as several other people made their way to the blonde to wish her a happy birthday. Arizona really enjoyed breakfast and as she stole glances at Callie, who kept an appropriate distance with her as she laughed and joked with their friends and colleagues, the blonde was once again overwhelmed with gratitude for the fact that the brunette had entered her life.

* * *

"It's been ELEVEN freaking days since I found it. How much time does she need? It's not that hard. Just get down on one knee and say 'I love you, will you marry me?'!" Teddy let out with frustration as the two blondes were standing in the VIP section waiting for the concert to begin.

"I know it's hard Teddy, but I'm sure she just wants it to be everything you've dreamed of." Arizona said in support.

Teddy sighed. "I know that. But it will be perfect no matter what. Why doesn't she get that? Why does she think I need something really big or anything like that? She makes me happy. That's all I've ever dreamed of. Do you think she's having second thoughts? Has she said anything to Callie?" the honey-blonde asked her friend with pleading eyes.

Arizona smiled reassuringly at her friend. "I don't know. We haven't talked about it. If she has, I'm sure Callie has promised Addison not to say anything. And even though Callie had told me you know I couldn't tell you. And you also know that you didn't want me to. You want to be surprised and blown away Teddy" Arizona said as she reached out and patted the other woman's shoulder.

Teddy hung her head before taking a sip of her cocktail. "I know I said it before, but I REALLY hate you're so good at this."

The blonde laughed. "I know. But seriously Teddy, stop worrying about it and just enjoy being with Addison. She loves you like crazy and the woman would do anything for you. She's not having second thoughts about this. She WILL ask you to marry her eventually."

Teddy swung her arm around Arizona's shoulder. "Yeah, you're right. And I love her too. I'm so lucky to have met her. I'm going to try and forget about it and just wait for her to do it. Because she will some time. And I'm sorry, because tonight should be about you. I can't believe Callie got us here. I guess she really is a super star."

Arizona smiled at the thought of the brunette. "Yeah, this is pretty great of her. She's an awesome friend."

"I second that" Teddy stated as she raised her cocktail to clink it against Arizona's. "Happy Birthday Az. Here's to an incredible start to 29 for you."

The blonde smiled and sipped at her cocktail along with her friend just as Adele took the stage.

* * *

Callie and Addison were seated at a table at 'The Circle'. This was the red head's doing as she had personally called the bar to get a reservation in for a table. And the bar had granted her wish instantly not wanting to say no to the successful producer.

The duo had been talking for a couple of hours about the other cast members. It seemed that something was slightly amiss between Owen and Amelia, but none of the women knew what. Addison had informed Callie, that Jackson and April were now dating. The pair had been to Addison's office letting her know just to make sure she wouldn't hear it through the gossip mill and that she was accepting of the budding relationship.

"Why did you tell Arizona to bring Teddy to the concert? Why aren't you at the concert with her, Callie?" Addison suddenly asked.

The brunette shrugged her shoulder. "I figured they could use the time just the two of them. You mentioned yesterday that Teddy is still acting weird. I just thought that maybe she'd take the opportunity to really talk to Arizona about it. Besides they are meeting us here later. I'll get to celebrate her then."

"You're a good friend Callie. To Arizona not to mention to Teddy and me. But you never ever have to pass up on the chance of going to an Adele concert again because my girlfriend is acting weird, okay."

Callie laughed. "It's fine. I've been to another one of her concerts. And I like being here with you. It's nice. It's been a while."

Addison smiled and nudged Callie's shoulder. "I like being here with you too. And it has, I'm sorry."

The brunette looked at her friend. "Don't be, it's not entirely your fault. But how are things really with Teddy?" Callie felt slightly guilty. For the past ten days she'd been kind of wrapped up in Arizona, spending every free night with her and as a result of that she hadn't been very present for Addison to vent her problems.

Addison sighed. "I honestly don't know. One minute she can't get close enough to me and sometimes her lips are practically glued to mine for hours at a time, and the next she's completely distant, kind of mad and won't let me touch her at all. It's really confusing. But she keeps saying that things are fine. And I have to trust her on that."

Callie smiled at her friend. "I'm sorry she's weird. Maybe she's just PMS'ing?"

The red head laughed hard at that. "Then that is the worst case of PMS I've ever witnessed. Beside I usually can't even feel it on her. But if you're right, I hope she starts her period real soon."

The duo shared a laugh but were interrupted when a couple of even louder laughs could be heard as Arizona and Teddy made their way through the door of 'The Circle'.

Brown eyes locked on cerulean blue ones and just from the look in those eyes Callie could tell, that the blonde had had an amazing night with her friend. Teddy went directly to Addison and captured the red head's lips in a kiss. Callie chuckled and turned her attention to Arizona. "Had a few drinks at the concert, did you?"

Arizona chuckled in reply. "We sure did. It was an unbelievable experience. Thank you Callie for such an incredible gift."

The brunette smiled brightly at the blonde "You're absolutely welcome."

Teddy tore her lips from Addison's and turned her attention to her friends. "Alright let's get this night started properly. Let's get some drinks and toast to Arizona and her 29-year old self."

* * *

"And you're home birthday girl!" Callie announced as they made it to the blonde's apartment door.

Arizona smiled. "You could have just left me downstairs and stayed in the cab Callie. Now you have to hail a new one. And technically I'm not a birthday girl anymore."

"I couldn't do that though, because I promised Teddy I'd make sure you got home safe. And you aren't home until now. Who knows what could have happened between the front door and here" the brunette replied.

The blonde smiled. She had had an amazing night. The concert was so great and she'd really enjoyed spending some time with Teddy outside of work. Arizona had kind of neglected the honey-blonde since starting things with Callie. The drinks had been fun and light and the foursome had really had a great time. Callie had kept her distance with Arizona and there hadn't been one ounce of secret flirting or hidden glances or anything like it. And Arizona had really appreciated that. But right now as she stood at her door with the brunette she wanted nothing more than to thank Callie in private for giving her this night.

"Do you wanna come in?" the blonde asked the taller woman.

Callie raised her eyebrows and chuckled "Arizona, it's 2 in the morning. I should go home and you should go in there and get some sleep" the brunette pointed at the door.

The blonde smiled at Callie. "Please? Just for a minute!" she pleaded.

The brunette knew she should just go home. But she couldn't say no to the adorable woman in front of her. "Okay. Just for a minute."

Arizona twirled around and unlocked her door before stepping inside with Callie following behind. The blonde closed the door and turned around to look at Callie. All evening Arizona hadn't been able to really take Callie in, in fear of their friends noticing. But she was beautiful as always. Her outfit was casual with black skinny jeans, a grey satin t-shirt and her leather jacket. Arizona reached out, grabbed the brunette and pushed her up against the door.

Due to her slightly inebriated state Callie didn't know what was happening until her back was slammed against the door and Arizona pinned her there. The blonde had a glimmer in her eyes that Callie hadn't seen before.

"Thank you for an awesome evening, friend-friend Callie" Arizona stated with a playful smile.

"You're welcome. I really hope you've enjoyed it, Arizona!" the brunette stated truthfully.

The blonde leaned closer to Callie and their faces were now only inches apart. "I have. You're a great friend" Arizona let out emphasizing the last word.

"I know." Callie's eyes flickered from blue eyes to pink lips. "Happy birthday Arizona" the brunette whispered with a subtle voice and a tone much softer and more loving that at any other time during that day and it made the blonde smiled.

"It's not my birthday anymore" the blonde softly declared while looking into brown orbs.

"My mom used to tell me when I was a kid, that a birthday lasted from you got up and until you went to bed again. Of course that made it nearly impossible to get me to bed on my birthdays because I never wanted it to end. But my point is that it's still your birthday Arizona, because you haven't gone to bed yet" Callie smiled and reached up to caress the other woman's cheek.

"Boy, your mom is smart!" Arizona giggled and the brunette felt the others woman's breath tickle her lips.

"She really is" Callie smiled.

Arizona's expression changed from playful to more earnest. "Seriously though Callie. Thank you. This day and night has been so great and just what I needed. And you've been amazing and considerate as always. You're so good to me. Thank you."

"I just wanted you to enjoy your day Arizona. Whichever way you wished to. And I've really had fun tonight. I'm glad you had a great night too" Callie stated honestly still with her back pressed against the blonde's front door.

"I know a thing that will make it even better though. Perfect actually" Arizona softly said.

"Oh yeah. What might that be? Because I may be a super star, but I really don't know what kind of magic I can work at this time of the night" the brunette answered with a slight grin.

"Kiss me" Arizona let out as her eyes focused on the deep chocolate brown ones in front of her.

Callie smiled at the shorter blonde. "That I can definitely do."

The brunette leaned slightly forward and captured the pink lips of the blonde. Arizona let out a small sigh and Callie couldn't help but moan at the sound and feeling. The blonde took the opportunity to let her tongue enter the other woman's mouth and she started massaging Callie's tongue gently with her own as she felt the other woman's hands tangle in her hair before resting behind her neck to keep her in place. Arizona snaked her arms around Callie's waist and as the kiss grew in intensity she couldn't help but let her hands wander beneath the fabric of the taller woman's shirt and she slowly caressed the soft skin on the other woman's lower back. She'd never done that before and she was mesmerized by the softness of the tan skin and the small goosebumps that rose in the wake of her touch.

Callie couldn't help but moan into the kiss again as Arizona continued to caress her back. The feeling of the blonde's hands on her skin was addicting and Callie never wanted it to stop. She felt heath spread inside her and she held her breath as Arizona's hands stroked her sides and found their way to her stomach. A very familiar yet oppressed tingling spread in the brunette's body and when Arizona started to let her hands glide upwards, Callie knew she had to stop this.

Arizona had no idea where the courage to move her hand to Callie's front came from. Maybe it was her slightly intoxicated state, maybe it was because of the utterly awesome birthday she'd had thanks to Callie or maybe it was because this day had really proved to her, how lucky she was to have the taller woman in her life. For the past few days the blonde had felt the urge to touch the other woman and get to know how her body felt. And as her hands wandered upwards Callie's torso, the blonde felt a whole new appreciation of the brunette. Callie felt exactly as beautiful under the blonde's hands as she looked when Arizona studied her with her eyes.

"We need to stop Arizona" Callie murmured against the blonde's lips.

Arizona pulled back and removed her hands from the taller woman's skin. "I know. It's just been such a good day, and I wanted the perfect kiss as the perfect ending. And then I got a little carried away. Sorry"

The brunette pulled the blonde to her, and Arizona rested her head in the crook of Callie neck. "You don't need to apologize Arizona. I liked what you were doing. Actually I really liked it. Which is why I stopped you. Because we still need to take things slow. But you can do things like that, you know. Explore. I'll stop you, if you're doing something I don't feel comfortable with or if I feel like we're getting carried away. And I hope that the kiss could meet your expectations." Callie added the last part softly.

"They always do" the blonde mumbled into the brunette's neck and Callie couldn't help but smile.

 **That's it for chapter 15. I'll be back soon with chapter 16 :)**

 **Let me know what you thought of this.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	16. Chapter 16

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys!**

 **Here is chapter 16 for your entertainment! This is another really long chapter – once again the longest yet ;) Things are happening that I didn't feel like rushing. I'm a firm believer that some things should be described properly to do them justice. I just hope you feel the same way and don't get bored with those long, long installments :)**

 **Also thank you for all your love for my story and in particular my writing. That makes me so incredibly happy! I have to say I was slightly worried when I started this, that my English would lack** **subtleties** **and thereby wouldn't be as descriptive, exciting and detailed as it would have, if I'd done this story in my mother tongue, Danish. I'm 100% sure it's not, but I don't feel like that you guys really notice or are bothered by it and I'm grateful for that. Thank you!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy this chapter!**

CHAPTER 16:

Callie was content. Really, really content. It was late Saturday afternoon and she was spending it with Arizona. Right now she was hovering above the blonde on her couch as their tongues dueled for dominance, their lips locked tightly together. One of her hands was resting underneath the blonde's t-shirt and she was slowly caressing a firm stomach. Since Arizona had explored a little a month ago on the night of her birthday, the two women had started getting more and more handsy during their make outs. Though nothing intimate had been touched yet, they slowly started to get a feel of each other's bodies. Once or twice Arizona had even grabbed Callie's ass and the brunette really liked the feeling of the smaller hands caressing her behind.

The two women had chosen to ignore Valentine's Day, none of them feeling ready to celebrate love in the kind of relationship they were in right now. Instead they'd spent the night on the couch with a movie, not that different from the afternoon they spent there right now. And it had been perfect to Callie.

The brunette was really happy with how things were going. But she couldn't help but think that it couldn't go on like this forever. She decided to enjoy the moment though and focus her attention on the woman spread out beneath her. Callie gently sucked on the blonde's tongue and was rewarded with a throaty moan in return. The brunette smiled and released the tongue once again. Instantly she felt Arizona's tongue wrap around her own and the kiss intensified.

But they were interrupted by Callie's phone ringing on the coffee table. "Nooooooo" the blonde whined and pouted as the brunette pulled away and sat up akwardly. Callie chuckled a little and reached over with her free hand taking the phone while continuing to softly caress the blonde's stomach.

She smiled at seeing the caller-ID before accepting the call. "Hi."

"Hola Calliope", "Hi Hermanita" and "CALLIE" were all shouted in to the phone on the same time. The brunette pulled the phone away from her ear at the yelling, and she couldn't help but chuckle as she saw the blue eyes beneath her twinkle with amusement.

"Hi mama, Jael and Rei" the brunette said to let Arizona know who she was talking to. "What's up? Why are you all doing a phone conference with me on Jael's phone?"

"You know why we're calling, mija. Tomorrow is the big night! Are you excited?" her mother asked with proudness in her voice.

Callie continued to look into clear blue eyes as she moved to straddle the blonde's jean clad thighs and sat up straighter. Her hand carried on with the caress of smooth skin on Arizona's midsection. "Of course I'm excited mama! I'm going to the Oscars. But please don't get your hopes up. You'll just be disappointed in me" the brunette softly said. She'd done the luncheons and everything already and only the big night remained.

"I could never be disappointed in you Calliope. You're my daughter and no matter how tomorrow turns out I'm immensely proud of you. You are so talented" Lucia Torres honestly said.

"We're all very proud of you hermanita" Jael supplied.

Arizona reveled in the soft touches Callie was giving her while talking to her family. The brown eyes hadn't left hers once, and the way the brunette looked at her as well as the touches and the fact that the three women on the other end had no idea, what the two of them were doing right now, turned Arizona on a little. Much to her surprise. Because that hadn't really happened while she was with Callie before. She couldn't help but smirk at the brunette before reaching up and slowly moving her hands up the strong, bare, caramel thighs straddling her. When she reached the hem of the other woman's shorts, she let her fingers slip underneath the cotton-fabric and softly stroked the other woman's skin. Callie bit her lower lip at the blonde's touch, and it was the sexiest thing Arizona had ever seen.

"Thank you, Jael. I'm very proud of you guy's too" the brunette said as she slowly inched her hand higher making the blonde's shirt crawl up a little exposing the pale, firm stomach to Callie's eyes for the first time while the two of them were alone.

"We never doubt that Callie. But right now it's about you. You deserve this hermanita, and I really hope you enjoy it" Jael let out truthfully. She thought the world of her big sister, and she just hoped Callie knew how amazing she really was.

Arizona watched as the brown eyes before her took on an even darker color when her stomach was revealed and it made a shiver run down her spine. Even though she'd never seen that look before, she was very well aware of what it meant.

"I will, I promise" Callie answered before smirking at Arizona. "How's school, Rei?" the brunette asked knowing full well it would give her plenty of time to do what she planned.

"It soooo great Callie. I got so many likes and new followers on Instagram after our photos during Christmas break and a lot of guys want to take me to the junior high dance now…" the 14-year old rambled on.

The blonde looked on as Callie hummed out signaling her sister that she was listening to the conversation before she bent down and placed a series of soft, silent kisses on the exposed stomach skin. Arizona closed her eyes, and removed her hands from caramel thighs to tangle them in brown locks. The brunette removed her lips from the blonde's stomach and moved her free hand to rest beside the blonde's head as she bent down until their faces were inches apart.

"…and I really hope you win Callie. But no matter what, I'll still think you're the best actress in the world. If you do win though, you HAVE to bring the Oscar home with you next time you visit, because I totally have to make an Instagram-post with it. Please Callie, PLEASE!" Rei finished in a very pleading tone.

Callie couldn't help but chuckle and it made the blonde smile. From the look in Callie's eyes she could tell, that the other woman's love for her little sisters was immeasurable and infinite. It took all of the blonde's efforts to not lean up just a fraction and claim Callie's lips with her own in that moment.

"I'm not going to win Rei. But should the unthinkable happen I promise to bring it with me the next time I'm in Miami" Callie lovingly spoke.

"YAY! Thank you. When are you going to come home again anyway? I miss you." Rei let out.

"Yes, I'd like to know that too. We all miss you honey" Lucia said.

Callie brushed her nose softly against Arizona's as she answered "I don't know. I have work you know. And it's pretty busy. Maybe at Easter."

"That's okay honey. Just let us know, even if it's just for a few days. I'm sure your dad will send his jet to get you" Lucia spoke.

Callie pulled back a little to see if Arizona had heard. By the blonde's wide eyes Callie gathered that she did. The brunette bit her lower lip again, this time in a nervous manner.

"Thank you mama. And I promise I will" Callie said as she eyed Arizona.

The blonde sensed the other woman's uneasiness and reached up to pull the other woman slightly down again. She placed a kiss on the brunette's jawline and she watched as Callie closed her eyes and sighed a little in content.

"What are you doing?" Jael's voice cut through the phone like a knife through butter, and Callie instantly opened her eyes. Brown orbs found amused blue ones, and the brunette could tell that the blonde tried really hard to suppress her laugh.

"Nothing. Why?" Callie asked dumbly.

"Mmhmm" Jael hummed, and the brunette could tell that her little sister didn't believe her at all. "Why the happy sighing then?"

Callie smiled at Arizona. "It was just relief at finally lying down on the couch. This morning was filled with all sorts of Oscar preparation stuff and it's just nice to finally be able to recharge the batteries. I'll need it for tomorrow."

Jael chuckled a little. "Yeah, you've always loved your COUCH, hermanita" the younger Torres let out emphasizing the word which let her big sister know, that she didn't fully believe her story.

"You know it" Callie winked at Arizona at that, and the blonde's smile got impossibly big.

"Anyway" Lucia Torres cut in "we just wanted to wish you good luck, mija. Your father and Aria send their love as well. They are at some sort of late night meeting. If it's not too late and they're not too tired when they get back, they'll call you themselves. But they told me to send their love just in case. Promise me to enjoy every single second of it Calliope. And don't focus that much on winning. Sure that would be indescribable but being nominated is so special and significant mija. Don't ever forget that."

Arizona smiled at the brunette as the brown eyes before her twinkled at her mother's words.

"Thank you mama. I really love all of you" Callie said with a little crack to her voice and a little moisture in her eyes. Arizona smiled and reached up to caress a caramel cheek.

The blonde couldn't help but giggle silently as three choruses of 'we love you too' sounded out. "I've got to go you guys. But I'll call you Monday. I've got the day off, and I'm sure I've got lots of tales to tell from tomorrow" Callie promised.

"Please do, mija. And please tell Mark tomorrow that we said 'hello'" the oldest brunette said.

"I will mama. Stay safe and I'll talk to you Monday. Tell Aria and Papi I love them too. Bye" Callie finished.

Arizona giggled a little again as a round of 'byes' were shouted out through the phone before Callie disconnected the call. She kept her eyes on Arizona's as she blindly threw her phone towards the coffee table. "Now where were we?" Callie asked as she moved to connect her lips with Arizona's. But all she was met with was a smooth cheek.

"Oh no no no no" Arizona said as she shook her head a little. "Not yet. I've got SO MANY QUESTIONS after listening to that conversation. Big mistake keeping the phone that close to me, CALLIOPE!" the blonde stated.

"Uuuurgh" Callie groaned and threw her forehead against the other woman's shoulder. She relaxed a little when she felt a soft hand come up and comb through her hair. She looked up and locked her eyes on playful blue ones. She nodded her head letting Arizona know that she could start with the questions.

"Firstly; Calliope? What's that all about? Is that you real name? How come no one knows that? I know that's not on your Wikipedia page, because I checked it out since we talked about our birthdays" the blonde said the last part with a slight blush, and the brunette smiled in return.

"Secondly; did you even listen when your 14-year old sister basically told you, that she's using photos with you to practically prostitute herself? A lot of boys want to take her to the prom because she has a famous big sister. I really think she should choose someone who wants to take her to the prom because she's amazing and not because she's got pictures of Callie Torres on her Instagram, even though that is all kinds of awesome" the blonde said with a smile letting the brunette know she was only partially serious.

"And thirdly; your father's jet? .Hell?" Arizona said with an awed expression.

Callie laughed at the blonde and couldn't help herself as she leaned down and planted a peck on pink lips. "You're all kinds of adorable" the brunette stated with a smile. "And to answer your questions: One, my real name IS Calliope, but to everyone else but my immediate family I've always been Callie. Which is the name that is on all official papers apart from my birth certificate, because I never really use Calliope. I've always hated it. That's why nobody knows about it. Mark knows but he's never called me by that name. But please say it again Arizona, because it sounded so sweet coming from you" the brunette said as she stared with so much affection at the blonde beneath her.

Arizona smiled big. "I think it is beautiful Calliope" the blonde whispered.

The brunette smiled back and once again leaned down to kiss the blonde, but Arizona turned her head last minute again. "Don't get distracted Callie. I still need answers to my other questions" she giggled.

Callie sighed and pulled back. "Fine. I'll make it short though, because I liked what we were doing before and during the call better than this" she smiled tenderly at Arizona. "Second, I did listen to that, but there's really nothing I can do about that from here. Rei is the kind of girl, who only listens to you when you're right in front of her, but I promise you that Jael is talking to her about it this minute. It's the Torres-sister-code. We never let any one of the others settle for anything they're not worthy of. It's like a mini intervention. And you're absolutely right, when you say that Rei should choose based on something else. I love how you worried about her by the way." the brunette smiled softly at the other woman. "And just let me know if you want photos with Callie Torres on your Instagram as well, then I'll hook you up" Callie finished with a wink and got a giggle in return.

"Third, yes my father owns his own plane. I'm pretty sure I've told you already he is the CEO of an international hotel chain. I might have left out that he's very, VERY successful at what he does. My parents have the kind of money that most people can only dream about. It's not that I didn't want you to know, I just don't want you to judge me based on that. And it shouldn't be important, because you already know that I have a lot of money on my own" Callie said apprehensively.

Arizona looked at the now fidgety woman hovering above her. She once again reached up and caressed a caramel cheek. "It's not important Callie. It just took me by surprise. I'm sure I've never known anyone with a private jet. I don't even think I can fathom the amount of money you have to have to be able to afford that." The blonde locked her eyes on brown ones "And now we can pick up where we left off, because I liked what we were doing as well" she said softly yet passionately.

Callie smiled before leaning down and connecting her lips with Arizona's. She softly ran her tongue along the blonde's lower lip and Arizona instantly greeted Callie's tongue entrance to her mouth and the blonde tangled her own muscle with the brunette's. Even though it hadn't even been half an hour since Callie last kissed the blonde like this, she had already missed it. And the brunette never wanted to kiss anyone else like that ever again. The feeling and taste of the other woman was intoxicating and addicting to the bone.

Arizona kissed Callie back with everything she had. The last month had been all kinds of great. She had felt how both she and Callie had relaxed in each other's company and grown impossibly closer. And bolder. The first time Callie had chanced putting her hand underneath the blonde's shirt, Arizona had tensed right away. And then the brunette had respectfully removed her hand. The next time the blonde had only tensed as Callie started moving her hand on her skin. And once again the brunette had removed her hand. As Callie got bolder, Arizona let herself be bolder too. The fact that the blonde had been the first one to initiate any form of skin on skin contact had probably surprised both woman, but it had very quickly become clear, that it was only the high of her birthday and the slight influence of alcohol that made her do it. She was not that brave once the buzz had subdued.

But the brunette had ever so slowly and respectfully broken down the blonde's walls and apprehensions. And now Arizona couldn't get enough. She could still remember the feeling when she'd first dared to move her hand to Callie's covered ass and grab it. She'd touched lots of asses in her life but never anyone that came close to Callie's. The firmness yet softness of it were indescribable.

Gasping for air the two women parted. Callie rested her forehead against Arizona's and smiled when she felt Arizona's heavy breathing close to her lips. "God that just keeps getting better every time" Callie said as she pulled back a little to look at Arizona. The blonde just smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

Callie looked into the blue eyes before her. She knew what she was going to say next had the potential to ruin everything. But she couldn't help herself as the words spilled from her mouth.

"I would really like for us to lable this, Arizona." The brunette said it with as much sincerity and tenderness as she could. But the blonde's eyes widened in panic nevertheless. Callie managed to hold the blonde slightly down though, as the other woman started to struggle to untangle herself from Callie.

"Please hear me out. I'm not saying we should tell anyone. But I only want to kiss you Arizona. And I want to know that you only want to kiss me. I would like for this to be exclusive. No more differencing between friend-friend Callie and friend-you-occasionally-kiss Callie. Just you and me. Sort of dating. In our homes." The brunette hurriedly finished her speech and pleadingly looked at Arizona.

The blonde's eyes were still wide with panic though, and Callie sighed as she got up from her position on top of the blonde. She was barely out of the way before Arizona was at the door putting on her shoes. The blonde had no idea where that came from or why the brunette said that, but she did know she needed to get out of there. She couldn't do this. She liked what they were doing right now. Why couldn't they just stay that way?

"Please don't run away from me right now Arizona" Callie's soft and vulnerable voice halted Arizona in her movements for a second. The blonde chanced to look at the brunette, and she saw the crestfallen look and the teary eyes dominate the taller woman's face. Then she looked back at her shoes, and continued what she was doing.

"I'm sorry Callie. I can't stay. Good luck tomorrow. Say hi to Mark from me." With that the blonde was out the door. Callie threw herself face first on the couch with a groan. Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? She knew why. She wanted more. She needed to know that they were moving towards something. But Arizona didn't want that.

* * *

Arizona was at Teddy and Addison's place. It was Oscar-time and the three friends had decided to spend the night together with some snacks and take out cheering on their fourth friend.

The blonde hadn't slept all night and she was exhausted. Last night's events had just kept replaying themselves in her head and she still couldn't figure out where Callie's urgency to label their thing had come from. She'd sent the brunette a text this morning once again wishing her good luck and completely ignoring the end to their afternoon yesterday. Callie had texted back with a thank you and bidding her a good night with Teddy and Addison.

"Where's the popcorn, Addison?" Teddy's stern voice interrupted Arizona's thoughts.

Addison looked briefly at her girlfriend before looking back at the TV where the red carpet event was about to start. "I don't know Teddy. I assume it's were we usually keep them" the red head answered.

Teddy looked at her lover like she'd grown another head. "They're not because we ran out, remember. I told you this days ago, and you promised to by a new supply. I know they're not your favorite, but they're mine and I don't want to watch the Oscars without. That should matter to you. I should matter to you Addison. God, it's impossible to get you to do ANYTHING!" the honey blonde ranted with a mix of annoyance and hurt.

Sometime during the other woman's outburst, Addison had turned her attention completely to Teddy. She watched as her girlfriend finished her rant with a hint of tears in her green eyes. Teddy caught Addison's eyes before turning around and making her way out of the den. Seconds later the slamming of the bedroom door was heard.

"What just happened?" Arizona asked the red head.

"Fuck if I know. Your guess is as good as mine" Addison answered as she got up from her seat on the couch. She made her way to the door. "I'm going to go get her the popcorns real quick. Feel free to go face the devil in the bedroom, or you can stay in here and watch the semi-known and foreign actors and actresses walk the red carpet."

The red head made a move to leave the room but paused in the door way and turned around to Arizona. "I know you're her friend, and I'm not asking you to betray that or anything, but she's been acting so weird and it is starting to drive me crazy. These last few days I've been wracking my brain as to when and possibly why it started, and I think I've come up with something. You don't need to tell me if I'm right, but I really hope you'll look surprised enough for me to know if I'm wrong" Addison said as she looked at Arizona resignedly. Then she took in a deep breath. "She found the ring, didn't she?" the red head said with a soft, low voice.

Arizona just offered the other woman a small smile. Addison sighed and leaned her forehead on the doorframe. "Fuck! I really wanted it to be a surprise. I just can't catch a break in this relationship lately. I screw everything up" the red head said dejectedly.

The blonde felt so bad for the other woman in that moment. "You're not Addison. She's only acting like this because she's a really impatient human being, and she can't wait to say yes to you when you ask her. She loves you Addison. She thinks you're perfect."

"Well I'm clearly not when I can't even hide an engagement ring from my girlfriend. And on top of that I've been trying to come up with a great proposal, but it's been a month and a half and I've still got NOTHING. She deserves so much better than this" Addison said while making eye contact with Arizona.

"She doesn't want anyone or anything else but you Addison. Like I said, she thinks you're perfect. Just ask her! She'll say yes." Arizona gave Addison an encouraging smile.

The read head offered the blonde a small smile. "I'll be right back." Then Addison made her way out of the den and a few minutes later Arizona heard the front door shut behind the red head.

The blonde sat there for a while admiring all the different, extravagant dresses. After a couple of minutes Teddy came back into the den. She plumped down on the seat on the couch Addison had occupied earlier, and turned her attention to the TV. Arizona could see Teddy fumble with her hands out of the corner of her eyes. At last Teddy broke the silence. "Where's Addi?"

Arizona gave her friend an incredulous look. "Where do you think she is Teddy? She went to get your childish ass your popcorn."

Teddy sighed and let her head fall back on the couch. "Shit, I'm such an idiot."

"You really are" Arizona said and she chuckled as her friend rolled her eyes. "You need to give her a break Teddy. She's really confused as to what is going on with you. And she's kind of scared that she's screwing all of this up" the blonde said with seriousness.

Teddy sighed and tilter her head to look at her friend. "She's not though. She's perfect to me. And I just love her so much, which is why I really want her to ask me, Arizona. I really try not to go off at her, but it just happens sometimes anyway" the honey-blonde said softly.

Arizona smiled reassuringly at her friend "You need to think about it and stop doing it. Count to ten or something instead. Because she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't know you've found the ring Teddy. She has no idea what is going on with you". The blonde knew she lied to her friend right now, but she needed to get Teddy to calm down and give Addison a chance to come up with something and make her move.

"I know" Teddy said before once again fixing her gaze on the TV. The two blondes spent some time talking about the different dresses appearing on the red carpet, but when the sound of the front door closing resonated out through the apartment the den got abruptly quiet.

The sound of cupboards being opened and closed was heard, and then the buzzing of the microwave running was the only sound for the next few minutes. Arizona looked at Teddy who had gotten very fidgety. "You should go talk to her" the blonde whispered at her friend. But Teddy just shook her head no.

The sound of the microwave dinging was heard four times before the sounds of cupboards being opened and closed was heard once again. At last footsteps were alerting the two blondes that the red head was moving towards the den. Addison appeared in the room with the biggest bowl of popcorn Arizona had ever seen in one hand and a pack of six packs in the other. From the red rimming of the grey-blue eyes, Arizona could tell that Addison had taken a moment to herself and let her frustration with Teddy out. Addison eyed the space next to Teddy for a second, as she moved further in to the room. She wordlessly handed Teddy the bowl of popcorn, moved past the couch and sat down on the unoccupied FatBoy. She placed the six pack on the coffee table, freed a beer and handed it to Arizona who accepted it with a soft 'thank you', then she took out another and handed it to Teddy and lastly she took one for herself, opened it and took several gulps while fixing her gaze on the big TV screen.

"Did Callie and Mark get there yet?" Addison asked.

Arizona shook her head "No. Not yet." The blonde turned her attention to Teddy who just sat there staring at the back of Addison's head.

"Addi…" Teddy let out with at trembling voice.

"I'm not going to say it's fine on more time Teddy. I'm so sick and tired of this hot and cold treatment. It stops now!" the red head said without taking her eyes from the TV.

Teddy looked so sad in that moment and Arizona was so sorry for her friend. She reached out and gave Teddy's arm a small squeeze. "I'm sorry Addison. I love you. And I'm really going to try not being like this anymore" the honey-blonde promised.

The red head didn't even turn her head at Teddy's words but just nodded her head. The three of them watched in silence as attendant after attendant made their way down the red carpet. Finally the bigger stars started to arrive. They watched as Joshua Halls arrived with his mother on his arm, then Peter Marcell, Callie's co-star in "A Better World", arrived with his wife and finally the camera caught a glimpse of Callie and Mark. Arizona could hear the people in the fan-zone going crazy at the sight of the couple, and she let out a small gasp at the sight of the brunette. Callie wore a pale pink Versace couture dress with a top part that had a slight gladiator look to it. It was cut out down the chest hinting at the caramel breasts that was still hidden behind fabric. The bottom was flowing and with just a hint of a trail. A slit went up the brunette's left leg and a pair of pale pink pumps helped the dress highlight the gorgeous color of the Latin woman's skin.

Arizona's mouth went dry. The dress was amazing and it made Callie look stunning. Her long brown hair was loose except for on one side where some of it was pinned back. She was by far the most beautiful thing Arizona had ever seen. The interviewer who was currently interviewing Joshua Halls waved Callie and Mark over too.

"And here comes Callie Torres and Mark Sloan. I think it's safe to say that a lot of people have been waiting very anxiously for you to arrive Callie. And I have to say, you did not let us down. You look absolutely gorgeous. I would dare say that so far you are an excellent candidate for best dressed tonight" the red carpet host, Allison McGoiry, complimented Callie who blushed slightly.

"Thank you so much Allison. I'm absolutely in love with this dress. Versace did an excellent job and I'm very thankful" Callie said and finished with flashing her pearly white teeth at the other woman.

"The really did. How are you liking being at the Oscars for the first time, and as a nominee none the less?" the blonde host asked.

"I'm really enjoying it. Needless to say I'm very excited to find out what the evening brings, but I'm also constantly reminding myself to enjoy every second. I'm so glad I've got Mark here with me, he really helps calm me down" Callie answered honestly.

Arizona moved her focus to Joshua Halls who stood on the outskirts of the frame. He eyed Callie up and down several times and he looked like he wanted to devour her whole. The blonde felt jealousy and anger rise within her.

"I'm glad to hear that. I think, we were all kind of surprised to see you two arrive together, with your divorce and all, but it's nice to see you get along. Have you both moved on from each other or is this maybe a way to let us all know that you've decided working it out with each other?" the quite nosy woman asked the couple.

Callie looked at Mark with a big smile and a chuckle before turning her attention back to the host. "Mark has been my best friend, my confident and my partner in crime for ten years. And even though we're not married anymore, and not working things out I might add, we're still friends. And he was such a big part of my work with this role. We spent countless hours sitting in bed at night talking my part over. I wouldn't want anyone else by my side tonight" the brunette said with a big smile.

"I think all the fans at 'Heart and Hospital' are glad to hear that the divorce won't force one of you from the show because of disagreements between the two of you! Are you dating anyone new Callie?" Allison asked before once again directing the microphone at Callie.

The brunette chuckled slightly. "No, I'm not. I don't know that anyone is interested actually" Callie deadpanned.

At this Joshua Halls stepped forward and planted a kiss on the brunette's cheek which made Callie blush slightly. "Oh trust me Callie, someone's interested. You look beautiful tonight and I'm sure that any other woman in that room will pale in comparison" with that the man left a shocked but smiling Callie as he moved down from the small podium.

Arizona was sure her blood was boiling. Some good looking idiot actor had just made a move on Callie. He'd kissed her cheek and basically told her in front of the whole world that he wanted to date her. A cheek that only Arizona was supposed to kiss and a woman that only Arizona was supposed to date. Except she'd said no to that. Just last night she'd fled from Callie's apartment because the brunette had suggested that they'd literally continued what they were already doing but just agreed on calling it dating. She knew it probably wouldn't have changed tonight's events if she'd accepted that instead of just bolting from the house, but she was sure she would've felt more secure than she did this moment.

"Wow, he sure is the straight forward type. I wonder if Callie is going to go for it. They would make a VERY attractive couple" Addison stated.

"Yeah, they sure would. But I'm not sure he's her type though" Arizona spoke as they watched Callie and Mark wave to the fans before stepping down from the podium and making their way further down the red carpet.

"No I actually don't think so either" Addison said. "She needs someone fun, nice and down to earth and not someone who just hit on her on live TV. But he's very smart. She won't be able to say no once he really asks for a date, because the entire press corps will be calling nonstop to get comments on if she'd been on a date with him and if there'll be more dates and…"

Suddenly a loud gasp was heard from Teddy, stopping Addison mid-sentence. The two other women turned to look at the honey-blonde who sat frozen with her hand down the popcorn bowl staring blankly ahead of her. Arizona watched as tears filled Teddy's eyes before a couple made their way down her cheeks. The blonde had no idea what was going on, and she'd never seen the look that adorned the honey-blonde woman's face before.

Teddy then turned her eyes to the red head. "Addison" the honey-blonde whispered and slowly lifted her hand out of the bowl. As she did, her face lit up in the biggest smile Arizona had ever seen. When her hand made it's way out of the popcorn bowl, she had a baby blue box clutched tightly in it. Addison gave her girlfriend a small smile as she crawled across the floor to sit one one knee in front of her lover. She then slowly took the baby blue box from Teddy's trembling hand.

Arizona held her breath and didn't know what to do. She kind of felt like this was something she shouldn't be there for. But at the same time it would be very weird if she just left. "You should stay Arizona. I wouldn't be doing this today, if you hadn't been here. We want you here" Addison softly said as if she sensed the blonde's inner struggle. Arizona then relaxed and sat back in the plush armchair.

Addison locked her grey-blue eyes on those of her girlfriend. The other woman's green eyes were full of tears, and she looked happier than the red head had ever seen before. That helped ease her nerves like nothing ever had. Addison looked down at the box and took of the baby blue lid. A black jewelry box became visible and the red head carefully took it out. She then opened it up and turned it around for Teddy to see. The honey-blonde let out a small, choked gasp at the sight, and Addison fixed her gaze on the honey-blonde once again. Teddy's eyes flickered between the ring and the grey-blue orbs that she just wanted to stare into for the rest of her life. For the past month and a half she'd eagerly anticipated this moment, but now that it was here, it exceeded her wildest dreams.

Addison offered her a smile before starting to speak. "Sometimes, and I have to say that it's been more frequently this past month and a half, you make it so incredibly hard for me to like you Teddy. And you have all these annoying habits that make me want to kill you once in a while. You can be awfully bossy and you have this tendency of rolling your eyes at me for no reason what so ever. You snore really badly when you sleep on your back and you often take my jacket, because you're always late and you never hang yours on the rack where it's supposed, leaving me to search for yours when I have to go" the honey-blonde couldn't help herself and rolled her eyes at the red head as she snorted slightly.

"But even when I don't like you, I love you with all my heart. And even your annoying habits don't stay annoying very long. Because when you've commandeered me to do something you always finish your command with a loving kiss to my lips, and every time you've rolled your eyes at me, your beautiful orbs take on a whole different kind of mesmerizing green, it's like they are almost jade. If you've fallen asleep on your back you kind of wake yourself up a little bit with your snoring and then you always roll over and cuddle up to me for the rest of the night, and when you've taken my jacket without asking it always smells like you once you've returned it. I LOVE you Teddy. Every fiber of my being lives for you. All of the things, that annoy me and make me not like you, always have a way of turning out positive, because it's you my love. Even today, with what I would like to say was the absolutely stupidest of your tantrums and very over dramatic not to mention hurtful, it somehow doesn't matter because I get to turn it into something positive and see you this happy. Which makes me happy. I just pray that I can be the reason for that happiness and see this particular smile on your face at least once every day for the rest of our lives" the red head honestly and lovingly said as a small tear made its way down her cheek.

"When Arizona, wordlessly I might add, confirmed to me, that you found the ring, my first thought was to just drop it altogether, because nothing was going the way it was supposed to. But then as I stood at the grocery store I realized, that I needed to stop being afraid. Afraid that you'd say no, afraid that in the long run it won't work out and I will cause your beuatiful soul heartbreak, afraid that you'll wake up one day and realize, very rightfully I might add, that you're too good for me. I just needed to jump into this and try. I might miss the greatest happiness of all time, if I didn't just try. So I'm kneeling here before you, Theodora Maria Altman, to ask you if you'd do me the incredible honor of marrying me?" Addison ended her proposal with a teary and tender smile at Teddy.

The now sobbing honey-blonde leaped forward and threw her arms around the red head's neck hugging her tightly. "Oh God Addison. YES. Of course I'll marry you" Teddy stated as she pulled slightly back to capture her lover's lips in a searing kiss. Then she pulled back and rested her forehead against her fiancé's. "And you're so wrong Addi" the honey-blonde whispered tenderly. "You're the one who's too good for me. I'm so sorry for this last month and a half, Addison. I'm an idiot and I would have understood if you'd left my crazy ass."

Addison groaned a little as she smiled "You were killing me woman! With the amazing and oh so tender sex one minute and the screaming at me for not having put my panties in the laundry basket before joining you in bed for a night of passion the next. But leaving you has never ever crossed my mind. Because I've tried living without you, and I hated that. You're my one and only Teddy. My soulmate. The knick to my knack, the Batman to my Robin, the milk to my cookie, the Simon to my Garfunkel, the peanut butter to my jelly and the beauty to my beast. I love you more than I can ever say Teddy. And you've made me so happy by saying yes!" the red head said with obvious emotion in her voice.

Teddy chuckled before placing another kiss on the other woman's lips. "You're going to write such perfect yet inappropriate vows, Addi. And I can't wait to hear them. Put the ring on my finger woman!" the honey-blonde demanded.

Addison pulled back a little. "Bossy" she stated with a face which made Teddy laugh.

The honey-blonde then leaned in and placed a lingering peck on the red head's lips. "But you love it" she said while she gazed into Addison's eyes.

"I really do" the red head breathed out before looking down, removing the ring from the box and sliding it onto Teddy's finger. She then looked to clear green eyes. "You're so beautiful and I'm such a lucky woman" Addison honestly spoke.

Teddy shook her head. "No Addi. If I didn't know it already, today would definitely have cemented it to me. I'M so lucky YOU love me. That you want to be with me. Thank you." The red head just smiled in return and reached up to caress her fiancé's cheek.

Arizona was pretty sure she'd held her breath since the second Addison asked her to stay. The wonderful and truthfully spoken words had somehow hit a nerve with Arizona and she exhaled heavily. The red head really wasn't the only one who needed to stop being afraid of change and what if's. When she felt two pairs of eyes watching her, the blonde shook her head slightly and smiled at her two friends.

"Congratulations you guys. I'm so happy for you! And thank you Addison for finally doing it, because your woman sure can whine and complain a lot. I swear I almost proposed to her myself" Arizona chuckled but stopped when she felt a punch to her shoulder. "Ouch Teddy!"

"I was not that bad" the honey-blonde stated.

Arizona laughed at her friend. "Erhm, yes you were. You flipped out at Addison for not buying popcorn marching out of the den and slamming the bedroom door behind you like a five-year old. And I've had to reassure you on a weekly, if not daily, basis that Addison would ask you eventually, and that you needed to calm the fuck down. It's been six weeks since you found it, not six years!"

Teddy looked at Addison with regret. "I have been kind of horrible. I'm sorry. And to make it worse I kind of started doubting that I'd actually told you about the popcorn when I was sulking in the bedroom."

Addison chuckled. "I'm positive you didn't, because I would have remembered that. I listen when you talk to me Teddy. I might sometimes forget to tell you things, but I always remember what you tell me. And for future reference you can just ask me nicely, and I will go out and get it for you. Anything you need. Because I love you. But all of your weird behaviors weren't bad. I think Callie is still kind of mortified by the kiss you gave me the night she was here" the red head chuckled at the memory as she ran her hand through honey-blonde hair.

Teddy blushed profusely. "Oh my God please don't remind me. I'm so happy she's not sensitive and prudish."

Arizona laughed too at the color of her friend's face. "She's really not. And I don't think you should worry, because she haven't even told me about it so I guess it's all forgotten" the blonde tried to reassure her friend.

"I hope so. Anyway get up here and cuddle me Addison. We need to watch this show because the only thing that could make this day any better is if Callie got her well-deserved Oscar" Teddy said while tugging at Addison's hand that was intertwined with her own.

Arizona smiled and watched as the red head moved up next to the honey-blonde on the couch and was rewarded with a loving peck on her lips from the honey-blonde.

* * *

Callie sat next to Mark as the Oscar show unfolded. She had to admit she found every bit as boring during the many and long commercial breaks as she'd anticipated. But the time was well spent and a number of really big stars had come over to congratulate the brunette on her nomination and performance, and she felt very humbled by it. A couple of good-looking actors had also more or less asked her out on a date, but she'd told them all to get in touch with her at another time, and then they'd talk about it. She had no intentions of going though, because a certain blonde consumed her every thought.

The brunette couldn't help but let her thoughts wander briefly to last night. Arizona hadn't taken two seconds to run for the door after the brunette said what was on her mind. Callie desperately wanted the blonde to sometimes just take a minute and let herself detect what she really felt in the particular situation. But Callie came to the conclusion that this was probably just the way the blonde worked. And she had to accept that. But it still hurt. And she was sad at the thought that she wasn't even sure the blonde would return. But Callie wasn't sure either that she should just let her.

She shook her head and found her phone in her purse as the next commercial break came. She had two texts. She opened the first one. It was from Addison.

 _*SHE SAID YES CALLIE! I'm so happy! It can't even be described. I had to ask her kind of spontaneously because she had a popcorn-meltdown, but I'll explain tomorrow. I just needed to tell you real quick. Good luck Callie. And I want you to know, that I'm very proud of you no matter how this turns out. Love ya. –Ads_

The brunette smiled at her friend's text. The brunette was ecstatic for her friend. She knew how much the red head loved Teddy, and the fact that Addison got to spend the rest of her life with her greatest love made Callie's heart burst with happiness for Addison. She was kind of confused about the whole popcorn thing though, and she looked forward to hearing more about it. Callie turned to Mark.

"Addison asked Teddy to marry her and she said yes" the brunette told the man with a smile.

Mark instantly returned the smile. "Really? I'm so happy for them. They make a great couple and really compliment each other."

"They really do" Callie stated. Then she turned her attention to the other text. It was from Arizona which was kind of surprising to the brunette, because the blonde had already sent her a good luck text earlier.

 _*Hey, it's me. I know, I texted you earlier, but I just wanted to wish you good luck again. And tell you that you look beautiful Calliope. Because you do. That dress looks stunning on you. Good thing you spent all that time trying on thousands of dresses because it was definitely worth it. You should never take it off. – Arizona_

Callie smiled. She glanced at the clock and decided to text the woman back real quick. It wasn't that she didn't trust that the blonde thought she looked good, but there was just something about the text and the use of her full name, that made the brunette feel like something was bothering the blonde. And Callie had a feeling she knew what it was.

 _*Hi. Thank you Arizona. You saying that means more than anything else – your opinion is the only one that matters actually. Joshua can ogle all he wants, I don't care. I wish you were here. Give my love to Ads and Teddy, oh and tell them congratulations on the engagement! - Callie_

* * *

Arizona sat and watched as the Oscar show slowly unfolded. She just wanted them to get to actress in a leading role already.

Teddy and Addison were cuddled really close together on the couch and Arizona heard the honey-blonde repeatedly whisper soft apologies to the red head for her behavior lately. The blonde could hear the regret in Teddy's voice and Arizona couldn't help but be relieved on Teddy's behalf that Addison took it all like she did and didn't run as far away from Teddy as she could.

A dinging from the coffee table diverted Arizona's attention to her phone. She took it and smiled as she read the text. Then she looked at the two women snuggled together on the couch. "Callie sends her love. And asks me to congratulate you two" the blonde said. Addison had declared earlier that she had to text Callie to let her know.

Addison and Teddy both smiled and looked briefly at each other. "Thank you" Addison softly said.

Then the words 'Actress in a leading role' sounded out through the speakers and the three women diverted their attention to the screen in a flash. Arizona held her breath as last year's winner of 'actor in a leading role', Ralph Storm, took the stage.

The blonde felt an anxiety and nervousness enter her like never before. She really wanted the brunette to win. She hadn't realized how much she actually wanted Callie to win until this very second.

Arizona watched intensely as Callie was presented as a nominee and a snippet of the brunette's performance in the movie played across the screen. The blonde couldn't help but smile at the amount talent the other woman clearly possessed. Then the camera panned to Callie who smiled first at the camera and then at Mark who reached over and grabbed the brunette's hand.

Callie felt like she was about to throw up. She had no idea how to act either way. She could feel her heart race and she was sure sweat was covering her entire back. She'd tried this before. At the Tony Awards. And just like that time, the soft caress from Mark's hand on her own calmed her down a bit.

Ralph Storm finished the presentation of the nominees and Callie was very aware that one of the cameras was once again pointed on her. The man on the podium then looked out towards the audience and spoke into the microphone.

"And the winner is…" Callie held her breath as Ralph Storm tore the envelope open, took out the card, read the words and turned his attention towards the crowd once again "Beatrice Barnes, 'Love and Betrayal'."

Even though Callie couldn't help but be disappointed she also felt a big smile crawl its way up her face as she turned her attention to a disbelieving Beatrice Barnes. The actress had done an amazing job in that role, and to Callie it was really no shame losing to her.

She felt Mark lean in slightly as he squeezed her hand. "I know she did a great job in that movie, but you should have won this Callie. Next time that award is going to be yours" the man finished his whispered words with a wink.

Callie gave him a grateful smile and turned her attention to the podium as Beatrice Barnes accepted the award and gave thanks to the appropriate people.

* * *

Arizona felt compassion for the gorgeous brunette engulf her as Beatrice Barnes was announced as the winner.

"That is bullshit. Callie was at least as good as her" Teddy stated with a stern voice.

Addison nodded her head. "I agree. But all of the experts have said that it would be a pretty tight run between the two of them, so maybe we're just kind of biased."

Teddy looked at her fiancé with disbelief. "I am not biased. Sure I'm friends with Callie, but I'm an actress. I can pinpoint a good performance when I see it."

The red head laughed at her girlfriend. "I know that, my love. I'm just saying that out of the two of them, I know I was rooting for Callie. And I know you were too. It could probably have gone both ways. I'm confident she'll get it one day though. I don't even think she herself knows how talented she is. She's got this amount of empathy that just allows her to take on any role and nail it. She's so good."

Arizona listened to her two friends talking, but she couldn't take her eyes from the screen. She just wanted a glimpse of Callie. Just to know that she was okay. As the camera zoomed in on the brunette during Beatrice's acceptance speech, the blonde breathed a sigh of relief. Callie was smiling big and the glint in her eyes let Arizona know, that the brunette was fine with the turn of events. The blonde then allowed a smile to take over her own face.

* * *

Callie had no idea what had woken her up. Her head was pounding and as she looked to her right she found a sleeping Mark next to her in the bed. The man was still dressed in his tuxedo, and the brunette smiled as she remembered last night. That had been fun.

Knocking at the front door alerted the brunette to what had shaken her from her dreams, and she moved to get up. She groaned as she sat up on the bed and swung her legs over the side. She grabbed her robe, put it over her sleep wear and left the bedroom.

A very groggy Callie then made her way to the door. She had no idea how long she'd slept but she knew for sure it wasn't enough. Last night had been crazy and long. As she opened the door she was met with a bashfully smiling Arizona.

"Hey. I'm sorry I woke you up. Can I come in?" the blonde timidly asked.

 **And that's it for chapter 16. MEAN, I know. But I've got to keep you guys hooked, right? ;) And as always I'll be back soon with another chapter, I won't leave you hanging for too long, don't worry.**

 **Let me know what you thought about this chapter :) I really have to say, that I don't feel like proposals are my thing! :/ I think I rewrote that part three times and I'm still not satisfied at all. But I hope you at least don't think it's horrible. I better make sure that I'm the one being proposed to when that time comes ;)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	17. Chapter 17

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys!**

 **Okay, this site screwed something up the last time I uploaded, which meant that the new date of upload wasn't registered, just the chapter update, so you should probably make sure you read chapter 16 before reading this one, because very, very few people actually read that chapter compared to the others! But that could also just be you guys getting sick of this story :D Anyway, I urge you to check chapter 16 out as well.**

 **Once again thank you to those of you who took the time to review the chapter – I appreciate it a lot.**

 **Here is chapter 17 for you guys. I hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

CHAPTER 17:

Arizona was really nervous as she stood at Callie's front door. Somehow she felt she should have brought the brunette something. Flowers again maybe. But she'd driven directly here once she got up not wanting to wait a second longer before seeing the other woman. And now she'd been standing in front of the other woman's house for half an hour. As the time on her phone told her it was 9.13 she inhaled sharply and forced herself to knock at the door.

The house was eerily quiet though and just as Arizona had knocked for the second time she realized what an idiot she was. Of course Callie was still asleep. She'd been to the Oscars for Christ sake. She had probably partied to the wee hours of the morning. Before she could turn to leave though the door was opened and a very tired and dishelved looking Callie appeared wearing a rope and some epic bed hair.

"Hey. I'm sorry I woke you up. Can I come in?" Arizona willed herself to ask.

Sure the text last night from Callie hadn't given any indication that the brunette was mad at her for running the night before, but Arizona still felt nervous about how the other woman would react to her presence.

Callie just rubbed her eyes, stepped aside and gestured for the blonde to enter. As Arizona walked across the threshold her eyes caught a pair of very masculine looking shoes at the entrance and she stopped dead in her tracks. The brunette looked at the blonde with furrowed, questioning brows as she froze before she even entered the house fully. Then Callie followed the other woman's line of sight, and her eyes widened as she realized what had made Arizona pause.

"No. No. NO. It's not what you think Arizona" Callie said as she moved closer to the blonde. She hooked her finger under the other woman's chin and detected a sheen of tears in blue eyes when her gaze locked on Arizona's.

"They're Mark's. He's in my bedroom" as soon as the words left Callie's mouth Arizona pulled back and the brunette only just realized what she'd said as the blonde made a move for the door. Callie caught the other woman's wrist just as she was about to high tail it out of the house.

"Okay. I just heard that and I totally understand why that didn't soothe you AT ALL. But I'm really hung over and although I have no idea what time it is, I'm positive I haven't slept more than two hours, three max, so I'm probably going to need some slack, because my brain isn't working properly" Callie pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand as she tried to calm the approaching head ache.

"Mark and I accepted an invitation to attend the after party hosted by Elton John and the AIDS Foundation, along with a lot of other people and we ended up having some sort of drinking game with Beatrice Barnes, her husband; I'd like to say his name is John, but I actually don't remember, Peter who I worked with on 'A Better World', his wife, Diane and Joshua Halls. We all got wasted and I mean WASTED Arizona. The limo just took us here first and because we were driving the poor driver insane, I told Mark to just spend the night. He's still fully dressed upstairs in bed. You're more than welcome to go see for yourself" the brunette said before sighing. "I have to add real quick though, that IF I'd taken some guy home to have hot dirty sex with him, I really don't think you would have had any right to react like this, because not even 48 hours ago you left my house because you very clearly DIDN'T want to date me! For all I knew the thing you and I had going on might as well be over, because your texts yesterday didn't let me know any different."

The blonde stared back at the brunette with pensive, hesitant eyes. "But I would never do that to you. I would never take anyone to bed until I knew with 100% certainty that we were over" Callie softly and sincerely stated as the doubt was still very evident in the blue eyes "I really, really like you, Arizona."

The blonde still didn't say anything. Callie sighed a little and closed her eyes for a second before opening them again. "You know what? I'm going to go throw Mark out of here. Just give me a couple of minutes to get him back to consciousness. You can wait in the kitchen or living room if you don't want to be standing here by the door once he gets down. Just please stay. We need to talk" the brunette pleaded.

With that Callie made her way up the stairs and back to the bedroom. She closed the door behind her and leaned back against the door for a second before making her way to the still sleeping man in the bed. She reached out and started shaking him. "Mark. Mark. MARK" the brunette said loudly at last. This made the man stir and he slowly opened his eyes.

"What the fuck Cal. Why are you waking me up? What time is it?" Mark asked gruffly and with a voice laced with sleep.

"It's 9.25. And you need to go home now. Arizona just stopped by and she wants to hear all about last night. And we can't have girl talks about hot men with my ex-husband in the house. So I need you to get your ass up and go to your own place" the brunette spoke.

Mark just grunted but got up none the less. "I need to use the bathroom. Call a cap would you?"

Callie nodded, picked up her phone from the nightstand and dialed the cap company.

* * *

At the same time Arizona was pacing the living room. She really wanted to believe Callie. But no matter what she wasn't really comfortable with Mark sleeping in the brunette's bed with the woman. That wasn't okay to Arizona. The blonde knew that the two of them were done with each other, she was friends with both of them after all, but the doubt still crept up on her.

And she also knew that Callie was right. The brunette would have had every right to screw whoever she wanted, because Arizona had been an idiot. But that was the whole purpose of her visit here. To tell Callie that she knew she'd been an idiot. She just hoped that the brunette would listen. The blonde felt comforted by the fact that Callie had told her she liked her again minutes earlier.

She stopped walking around when she heard voices as the door to the bedroom upstairs was opened. An extremely hung over looking Mark made his way down the stairs followed by the brunette. "Good morning blondie. For the record I do not appreciate you coming here this early and getting me thrown out on my ass because of girl talk. But I'll let it slide because you are my one and only trauma sweetheart after all" the man winked at Arizona but instantly winched at the movement.

Arizona laughed at her clearly worn out on-screen partner. "Thank you Mark. And I'm sorry. I didn't even consider the possibility of you guys getting home that late as I came here. Feel better and I'll see you tomorrow bright and early" the blonde smiled compassionately at Mark.

The man then turned towards the brunette and pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you once again for bringing me. It meant a lot. And thank you for using your stardom to make sure I had an awesome night! Although I only remember bits and pieces from the late hours I just know it was epic" The duo both laughed at that comment.

"Yeah I don't remember much either so I can't really help you out there. And you're welcome Mark. Thank you for escorting me" Callie earnestly said.

Mark nodded in reply as he pulled away, put on his shoes and left the house.

Callie then turned towards Arizona. The blonde was clearly still dubious about the whole thing and the other woman also looked kind of nervous for some reason, but at least she was still there. Callie was really exhausted though and she just wanted to pass out for a little while before having to deal with the blonde and all of their crap. She made a decision in that moment and walked towards the other woman with determination. She grabbed a pale hand and started dragging Arizona behind her. "Come with me" the brunette softly said. They climbed the stairs and Callie pulled the blonde towards the bedroom.

Arizona stopped her walking when she realized where Callie was taking her. She'd never been to the other woman's bedroom before and she really wasn't sure she wanted to go in there right now. Callie turned around and sensed the blonde's uneasiness.

"Relax Arizona. I'm not bringing you here for any funny business. We are nowhere near ready for that yet. If there even is a 'we' at this point. But I am so tired and positively still a little drunk. I need to catch a couple of hours of sleep before dealing with all of this" the taller woman gestured between the two of them "and I'd really like it if you'd cuddle me while I did that. I want to talk to you so badly, but nothing good will come of us doing it now because I'm sure my Oscar and alcohol induced brain will say something stupid that hurts you. Which will probably only make things worse. And I really don't want that to happen. Will you please lay down with me? Just for a few hours. You can get up and go to the living room once I'm asleep if you want to and do whatever you feel like. Watch TV, use my computer or just sit in the yard with a cup of coffee. But I'll never fall asleep knowing that you're downstairs, because I'll be afraid that you'll change your mind about coming here and leave while I'm up here snoozing away. And I really don't want you to leave before we talked" Callie let out in a ramble.

Arizona couldn't help but smile slightly at the other woman. She was so cute in that moment and Arizona couldn't help but squeeze her hand a little. "I'd really like to cuddle with you Callie."

The brunette released a breath of relieve and the two women continued through the bedroom door. Arizona couldn't help but look around. The room was really spacious with light brown and décor in all variants of brown. The king size bed along with a cupboard and a giant wall-mounted mirror were all dark woods. A French double door led to a walk in closet and in the corner was another door which Arizona assumed led to the bathroom. It was warm, cozy and beautiful.

It was very clear to the blonde which side of the bed Callie slept on. The right side nightstand had a book, her phone some Kleenex and a lip balm resting on it. The other nightstand was completely bare and Arizona felt suddenly nauseous at the thought of having to occupy the space that Mark slept in just minutes earlier.

But before Arizona could bolt from the room at the thought, Callie walked to the left side of the bed without even hesitating, took of her robe and plopped down on her back clad in her blue sleep wear. Arizona could literally feel her heart beat harder a couple of times in gratitude of the other woman. The blonde then made her way to Callie's side of the bed, took off her long sleeved cardigan and lay down on top of the duvet on her right side facing the brunette. She reached out and draped her hand over Callie's stomach. Callie rolled over too and came face to face with Arizona.

"I'm really happy you're here Arizona. And I really want to talk. About you running the other night and Mark sleeping here. Please don't leave" the brunette softly said.

Arizona pulled the other woman closer to her and Callie buried her head in the blonde's chest. "Get some sleep Callie. I want to talk to you too, about everything. But we can do that later. Just sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up." The blonde placed a kiss on top of brown locks to ease the other woman's nerves.

Callie sighed and kissed the blonde's ivory skin just beneath her collar bone. "Thank you" the brunette stated and put an arm around Arizona's lower back.

As the blonde slowly felt the other woman relax she found, that as she was lying there in bed with the brunette one question just wouldn't leave her mind. "Callie? Are you asleep" she whispered.

"No, not yet. Why?" was softly said against the blonde's skin.

Arizona inhaled deeply "if you don't remember much from the late hours of the party yesterday, how do you know you didn't have sex with Mark?"

Callie pulled away to look into blue eyes. "I'm going to be honest with you and let you know that I remember very little from when we got back here. But I know I didn't have sex with Mark, because I absolutely remember falling asleep thinking of you. Like I always do. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done that if I'd just spent an unknown amount of time having sex with Mark" the brunette stated with honesty. "Plus I hardly doubt that he would have stripped out of all of his clothes, had sex with me and then put everything, right down to his butterfly, back on. He is WAY too lazy for that. Oh and I'm not sore at all in any parts of my body that would have definitely been a little sore if something had been hammered in there repeatedly for the first time in almost ten months." Callie finished with a smirk.

"Oh my God, CALLIE" Arizona let out with a chuckle as she grimaced. The brunette laughed a little too and then reached out to caress the blonde's face. She let her forefinger slowly trace first the chin, the nose, the forehead and lastly the cheeks of the other woman.

She finished by slowly gliding her thumb across pink lip. "And I know because I'm crazy about you Arizona. No amount of alcohol could make me have sex with someone other than you. The thought doesn't even cross my mind" the brunette affectionately stated.

The blonde felt a smile spread across her face. "That was an excellent answer" she said and couldn't help herself as she leaned towards the other woman and placed a small peck on her lips. "Now I'll let you sleep. I promise."

Callie smiled back at Arizona and resumed her earlier position cuddled against the blonde's chest. Just as she was about to fall asleep she heard soft whispered words coming from the lips resting on her brown locks. "I'm crazy about you too."

* * *

Arizona felt herself ease back into consciousness. She must have dozed off along with the brunette. She inhaled and was immediately met with the scent of Callie. She slowly opened her eyes. All that she was met with was an unruly mess of brown locks and the blonde smiled as she heard the other woman's light snoring. She shifted to reach for the brunette's phone to get a look at the time. She felt a caramel arm tighten around lower back and soft and incomprehensible mumbling came from plump lips.

The time on the phone read 12.04. The shift in position allowed the blonde to get a look at the brunette's face and as she took in every little detail of the flawless face she was once again taken aback by the other woman's beauty. She could stare at Callie all day long. This was kind of new though. Because the brunette's face was completely relaxed and Callie looked so unbelievably content. Her lips were slightly parted and soft breaths left her mouth in an even rhythm.

This was the closest Arizona had ever felt to Callie. The fact that the other woman trusted her so immensely and felt so safe with her to sleep like that in her presence only ratified the blonde's decision to come here and talk to the brunette.

Caramel eyelids started to flutter and her breathing became eratic. After a couple of minutes later brown eyes were slowly revealed and Arizona smiled at the other woman. "You didn't leave" came in a hoarse voice from the sleepy brunette.

"Of course I didn't leave, Callie. Did you sleep okay?" The blonde pulled back a little, reached out and pushed a couple of brown locks away from the other woman's face.

Callie smiled into the touch. "I slept very, very well, thank you. You're awfully comfy."

Arizona chuckled. "Thank you I guess."

The brunette cuddled closer to the blonde again. "What time is it?"

The blonde bent her head and kissed the top of Callie's head as she replied. "I'm guessing 12.15 now. It was 12.04 when I last checked."

Callie sighed. "We should probably get up then or I'll never fall asleep tonight. Although I don't really feel like going anywhere. I like this" the brunette stated.

Arizona smiled. "I like it too. How about this though; you go take a nice, long shower and I'll go fix us something to eat?"

"That sounds really good. But if you can wait I'll cook. You are the guest after all, you shouldn't be cooking for me, I should be cooking for you" Callie said as she made a move to untangle herself from Arizona. The blonde held her firmly in place though.

Blue eyes locked on brown ones. "I want to Callie. I might as well make use of the time while you're in the shower, and then we can talk before hopeefully vegging out on the couch with lighthearted TV for the rest of the day. Let me take care of you. It's the least I can do."

The brunette smiled. "Thank you Arizona. Cooking does seem kind of unmanageable right now. But you can just make whatever you feel like. I'll eat anything" Callie said.

The blonde smiled and leaned in to give the other woman a small lingering kiss. "Okay. And please brush your teeth woman, because I swear to God I got kind of drunk just from this small kiss. I tastes and feels like I might as well be kissing a bottle of vodka. And I plan on hopefully kissing you a lot more today after we've talked, but I also need to be able to drive home later. And I really don't want to have to restrain myself from kissing you" Arizona said with a wink at the other woman.

Callie smiled. "Don't worry I'll make sure to eat an entire tube of toothpaste. Because you should NEVER restrain yourself from kissing me."

The two women got out of bed and as Arizona made her way down the stairs she heard the shower getting turned on. She went straight to the brunette's fridge. It was really well stocked and Arizona decided on making toast, scrambled eggs with bacon and a fruit salad. Just as she finished the eggs and plated the food, Callie came into the room with damp hair in a pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt.

"Oh Jesus this looks so good. Thank you" the brunette said and placed a kiss on an ivory cheek before sitting down on a chair at the breakfast bar.

Arizona placed a plate in front of the brunette, took her own plate and sat down next to the other woman. The duo ate in silence and as they finished Arizona knew she had to say something.

"So tell me about last night. How was it?" the blonde asked with a smile.

Callie returned the gesture. "It was really great. I mean the award ceremony itself got a little boring with all the breaks and the keeping of appearances, but I enjoyed it a lot. And the party afterwards was one of the funniest parties I've ever been to. You wouldn't believe what some of those put together people will do once the press is finally locked out of the room. It was an amazing night."

Arizona chuckled. "I guess everyone will go a little crazy from being watched all the time. And then when the opportunity to really let loose is there, you'd really want to take it" The blonde pause for a second "I really need to tell you to your face how beautiful you were. You literally took my breath away and if anyone had asked me what my name was the second you appeared on the screen I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to remember. And I'm sorry you didn't win" Arizona finished while looking into brown eyes.

Callie smiled at the other woman with a slight blush to her cheek. "Thank you. I'm really glad you thought so. And it's okay. I had an inkling Beatrice would win. Because she deserved to. I'm just really honored to be nominated. I'm happy people think I'm good at what I do."

A silence once again filled the room. Callie looked at Arizona who was playing with her fork. "Why did you come here this morning Arizona? Because I don't think it was with the intention to cook for me or compliment my looks yesterday. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture."

Arizona turned around on her stool and faced Callie. She exhaled loudly. She really wanted to tell the brunette what she came to say. But something was just kind of blocking it. "You don't get to share a bed with anyone else when we're together" the blonde let out quick.

The brunette leaned back a little and looked at the other woman with a serious face. "But we aren't together Arizona. You and I are friends who made out a lot up until Saturday night. If you and I were dating then you'd get a say but as things are now, you don't get to decide that. You don't get to be mad at me for this Arizona."

The blonde sighed. "No, that's not…I'm not mad Callie. I'm so relieved you didn't sleep with him, even though you had every right to. Because I would have HATED that. When I saw those shoes this morning, my heart broke, Callie. Because I knew that if you'd moved on, that would have been on me. But that wasn't what I meant…I…" Arizona sighed. She had no idea how to say this right.

"You took me completely by surprise Saturday afternoon, Callie. I had no idea that you felt that way and it hit me totally out of the blue. One minute we were making out and fooling around a little and the next you looked at me with these eyes and I could just tell that something significant was about to leave your mouth. But you need to stop assuming I'm running. Because I can see it in your eyes. And it doesn't help me stay at all. It's like you're just waiting for me to freak out and run and that pushes me away. You reacted very fiercely to not knowing about my birthday and Saturday you also very clearly feared that your words would make me run…"

"And they did Arizona! If I need to stop being afraid of that, you need to stop running!" the brunette cut in with a slightly raised voice and Arizona saw her scrunch up her face in slight pain.

The blonde reached out and softly caressed a caramel cheek. The other woman closed her eyes and her face immediately relaxed. Arizona then moved her hand to the woman's thigh.

When Callie opened her eyes and locked them on Arizona's, the blonde smiled softly at the other woman. "I know. And that's actually why I came here. I'm done running from you Callie. I'm ready to accept the fact that I'm wildly attracted to you. All of you. You are all I think about. And that used to scare me. But I need to stop being afraid. WE need to stop being afraid. I really think we have a chance at something unique here and I don't want us to screw that up because we both have fears. Happiness is way too precious for that" the blonde said honestly.

Callie felt tears rise in her eyes. "What are you saying?"

Arizona leaned closer to Callie. "I'm saying that I will kill you if you share a bed with anyone other than me from this moment on, when we are in fact together. I'm saying I was an idiot Saturday, because I'm so very lucky that someone like you would want to be with me exclusively. And I'd very much like to sort of date you, Callie. In our homes. That is, if you still want to?" the blonde finished tentatively.

The brunette smiled big at Arizona and left her seat to stand between the blonde's legs. "Of course I do. Because you're all I think about too." With that Callie closed the distance between them and connected her own lips with Arizona's in what was supposed to be a soft kiss. But the other woman had other ideas, and she reached around and pulled Callie closer by her ass before sliding her tongue across Callie's lower lip.

Callie moaned at the blonde's grab on her ass and she opened her mouth to let Arizona's tongue in. Their tongue's connected and Arizona sighed at the feeling of that for the first time in almost two days.

The two women parted as the need for air became too much and Callie rested her forehead against Arizona's. "You drive me crazy Arizona. I can't take it if you run anymore. I mean it. Because every time we're together, I start to like you just a little more. And I want to just let myself do that. But then I need to know for sure that we're done with this ridiculous dance of one step forward two steps back."

Arizona opened her eyes and found Callie's. "I'm done with running Callie, I promise. I might still get hesitant and pull the breaks, but I'm not running from you ever again. I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life if I ruin this because of my stupid tendency to panic for no reason at all."

Callie smiled and sighed in satisfaction. "Thank you. I really needed to hear that. Even though you kind of already said it once." With that the brunette lifted the blonde from her chair.

"CALLIEOPE" Arizona shrieked as she instinctively wrapped her legs around the taller woman's waist and her arms around her neck.

The brunette put her hands underneath the blonde's but cheeks and started carrying her towards the living room. "Let's move this to the couch because I'm still exhausted" she stated.

"You're going to drop me Callie" Arizona said as she held on for dear life.

"Please you're as light as a feather. I can handle it. Trust me" the brunette answered.

Arizona looked to the brown eyes of the other woman. "Always" she whispered.

Before the blonde knew it her back connected with the couch cussions and Callie hovered above her. "Thank you."

Arizona didn't even get a chance to ask what the brunette was thankful for before plump lip connected with hers. Arizona snaked her arms around Callie's neck and just let herself enjoy being kissed like that by someone she found this amazing.

When they parted Callie couldn't hold back a small yawn and Arizona giggled. The blonde maneuvered herself further up the couch and gestured for Callie to lay back against her chest. "Come on super star. Let's watch some no-brain-needed TV and you can nap for a little bit if you want. Unless you want me to go clean up our plates in the kitchen?" Arizona asked.

The brunette shook her head before lying back against Arizona. "No, leave them. I just want to lie here with you right now."

The blonde smiled and kissed the top of the other woman's hair. "Then that's what we'll do."

They opted to watch a couple of episodes of 'Jane the virgin'. As they lay there Arizona couldn't help but softly caress the other woman constantly. She was so happy that she'd finally allowed herself to fully accept that she wanted to be with Callie and only Callie. Because now that she knew the brunette was all hers it made her feel so at peace.

Halfway through their second episode they were interrupted by the brunette's phone ringing in the pocket of her sweats. She fished it out and Arizona got a glimpse of 'Addison Montgomery' on the screen before Callie accepted the call.

"Hi Ads...I'm at home…Oh God, I'm so hung over, you wouldn't believe it…Yeah he spent the night here…Not like that Addison…I'm not lying, it wasn't like that…" the brunette turned a little and looked into Arizona's eyes as she sent her a reassuring smile "Actually I'd rather postpone it for tomorrow. It's not that I don't want to hear all about it Ads, I'm just really not that great company today. You should spend the day with your new fiancé…Okay…Yeah dinner tomorrow just the two of us sounds great. My treat…Okay I will…Say hi to Teddy from me…Bye." Callie hung up, placed the phone on the coffee table and turned her attention back to the TV.

Arizona continued to smooth her hand over soft brown hair for a little while before saying "For the record I think you're really great company today. And you don't have to turn down your friends to spend the day with me. I did show up unannounced after all."

Callie turned around again to look at the blonde. "I know I don't have to Arizona. But I want to. There's nobody else I'd rather spend today of all days with. I want to be close to you today. I would never just throw you out on the day we decided to be with each other exclusively. And Addison wouldn't want me to if she knew."

A loud ding was heard from the blonde's jeans pocket. "Ten bucks says that's Teddy asking to hang out with you tomorrow night while I wine and dine her fiancé. That woman doesn't know how to spend an evening by herself" Callie chuckled.

"I don't want to take that bet, because I know I'm going to lose" the blonde spoke as she tried to get her phone out of her pocket. She chuckled as she confirmed that their predictions were correct.

"That woman is too predictable" Arizona stated as she reached over and placed her phone next to the brunette's on the coffee table.

"You can text her back, you know" Callie said.

The blonde smiled and put her cheek down to rest against the side of the other woman's face. "It's fine. She can wait" she whispered before placing a kiss on the other woman ear and holding her a little tighter against her own chest.

The two women spent the rest of the day cuddled up on the couch. Not a lot of intense kissing had been shared, just a few soft ones when they felt like it. But for the most part, being huddled up together, feeling the other one close, was enough for them. They were interrupted by the brunette's phone ringing a couple of times. Her parents wanted to hear all about their daughter's night and let her know how wrong it was that she hadn't won and her agent called too to let the brunette know that the job offers hadn't let up since Callie lost the award to Beatrice Barnes. On the contrary actually and Natalie had already received a few very interesting offers today, that she thought the brunette should take a look at first chance she got. Callie had promised to do it tomorrow or the day after stating that today was a day for personal recreation.

For dinner they had ordered pizza. Neither wanted to move from each other to cook in the kitchen. Now however Arizona kept checking her phone. Time seemed to pass so fast and their perfect day on the couch was nearly over. "Please stay the night?" the brunette softly asked without turning to look at the other woman. She knew Arizona was about to say, that she should go home soon. "I slept really well with you there with me."

Arizona chuckled and hugged the brunette a little closer. "You slept well because you were kind of drunk, Callie." Then the blonde let out a small sigh into brown locks. "And I don't know if it's a good idea for me to stay. I still think taking it slow is a good idea."

Callie turned and looked up at the other woman. "I know. I think so too. And I'm not asking you to move in with me or anything. But it's been such a good day Arizona. And falling asleep next to you would just be the perfect ending."

The blonde smiled at the brunette. "You do know I would have to get up at 4.00 am tomorrow morning then, right? I have to go home and get my work out clothes before going to the studio. I'm sure you'll regret asking me to stay the second my alarm goes off."

Callie shook her head. "Not at all. I promise I'll even get out of bed with you, peel a banana for you and walk you to the door. Please Arizona" the brunette begged.

Arizona was really torn. She herself had slept really well with the brunette wrapped in her arms and she really liked waking up to the scent of sunshine and roses so very unique for the other woman. But at the same time the blonde couldn't help but feel like she should pull the breaks a little. And the thought of Mark sleeping there this morning still bothered her a little.

The brunette could feel the hesitation ooze from the other woman. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't pressure you into something you don't feel like doing. You can say no. It's okay Arizona" she softly said as she lifted one of her hands to caress the other woman's cheek.

The blonde could see the dispiritedness in the brown eyes even though Callie obviously made an effort to hide it. She breathed out. "It's not that I don't feel like it Callie. Because I really do. I want to feel your arms around me for an entire night. But at the same time I think we should postpone it a little. Because we just got together for real today and we shouldn't move to fast. I know it's just sleeping and that we kind of already did it this afternoon, but still. That was different. And also because Mark just slept next to you in that bed this morning. And while I get why he did that and why I didn't have any right to have a say in that, I'm going to need at least few days before laying up there beside you for an entire night. I know you shared that bed with him for years and that honestly doesn't bother me, but if I go up there tonight I'm pretty sure it'll start to. Because I'll feel like I'm literally jumping into the bed just as he left it. And I don't want that. I want to be able to go up there and just enjoy lying there with you wrapped around me. Without images of Mark entering my mind every two seconds."

Callie hated that she actually found the blonde's arguments understandable. She got where Arizona was coming from and was sure she would have felt the same way if the tables had been turned. "I know. And I get why you would be feeling like that. Even though you really shouldn't. We'll wait" the brunette smiled at the blonde.

"Thank you. Now, are you going to come up here so I can kiss you?" Arizona teased.

The words had barely left her mouth before Callie had pushed herself further up towards the blonde and claimed the other woman's lips. She felt the other woman's tongue caress her lower lip and she opened her mouth and met Arizona's tongue with her own. She pulled her tongue away from the blonde's and felt Arizona moan and press her lips even harder against her own in the pursuit of the missing muscle. The brunette really loved the sound of the blonde moaning like that. She wanted to hear it all the time. Callie once again met the other woman's tongue and let the blonde caress it for a few second before pulling it back. Just like the last time a moan left Arizona and the brunette instantly let her own tongue meet the other woman's again. When she pulled it back a third time, Arizona removed her lips from the brunette's as she moaned.

"Oh my God, would you stop doing that?" the blonde asked with slight annoyance. Callie just chuckled in response. "I mean it Callie. Stop teasing me and kiss me properly. Or at least let me kiss you properly" she added.

The brunette had a gleam in her eyes that Arizona couldn't help but take note of. It was somehow different and much more relaxed than she'd ever seen before. "Are you happy?" the blonde couldn't help but ask the other woman.

The brunette's chuckling ceased right away and she locked her eyes on the blue ones of the younger woman. "Very. You've made me very happy today Arizona. I'm ecstatic that you've agreed to acknowledge the fact that this is a relationship somehow. Because I really like to know that you're mine. Even though the rest of the world doesn't know, WE know. And right now that's what matters to me" Callie truthfully answered. "Are you happy?" she then asked back.

Arizona smiled at Callie. "I am. I like knowing that you're mine too. I was about ready to reach into the TV and throttle Joshua Halls with my bare hands yesterday. But I couldn't because, apart from the obvious reason that it wasn't possible, you and I weren't a real thing and if you for some reason wanted to date him, then I had no right at stopping you. But now I don't have to worry about that" the blonde said with an ease to her tone.

Callie lovingly caressed an ivory cheek. "You've never had to worry about that. Since the first time I kissed you, all I've been able to think about is doing it again…" the brunette leaned up for a peck "…and again…" Callie stole another peck "…and again." As she leaned up the third time the blonde put one of her hands on the back of the brunette's neck and held her close as she deepened the kiss. Arizona decided that she could stay a little longer. Because she wanted to soak up as much time as she could with the gorgeous brunette who was now all hers.

 **That's it for chapter 17. I really hope you liked it.**

 **Let me know what you think! :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	18. Chapter 18

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys!**

 **Thank you for your lovely reviews of chapters 16 & 17\. I'm happy you liked the proposal even though I wasn't too fond of it myself. I've experienced quite an increase in readers over these last few chapters, and I'm so delighted that so many of you read this. I love that some of you have read the story from the beginning and have been very loyal to me, but new readers are absolutely welcome and loved as well. I only hope I won't let you down and that all of you stick by me and this fanfiction. **

**AZsgirl: it is very possible that you are right about that ;)**

 **Okay, here's some 'bad' news I'm afraid. One of my friends is getting married this Saturday (YAY) and as I'm both the maid of honor, the toastmaster and the Godmother of her child that is being christened in continuation of the wedding ceremony, this week is going to be absolutely packed with chores regarding the wedding and the christening. Unfortunately this means that I probably won't have the time to upload the next chapter until Sunday! :/ I hope to get a minute to do it Wednesday or Thursday though, but I make no promises. Please bear with me :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy chapter 18! :)**

CHAPTER 18:

It had been a little over two weeks of heavenly, secret bliss for Arizona. She and Callie were doing so well and the blonde just couldn't seem to stop smiling. Luckily she spent a great amount of time listening to Teddy going on and on about her wedding with Addison, and her smile was very much appreciated by the honey-blonde. Addison and Teddy had decided to get married at the end of July, leaving the two women a couple of weeks to go on a honeymoon before the shooting of the new season of 'Heart and Hospital' started.

Right now the two blondes were seated in the cafeteria talking and Arizona really tried to pay attention while she was secretly admiring Callie from a distance at the same time. The brunette had showed up at work today in a long, black maxi dress that hugged her body tight around the hips but flowed a little at the bottom, and the stunning sight made the blonde's brain turn completely off every time she saw Callie. The brunette was seated at another table talking to Addison and by the looks of it the conversation was kind of serious even though both women smiled from time to time.

"I know Addison has an appointment with Zuhair Murad in regards of her wedding dress. And we all know she's no doubt going to be the most beautiful bride ever in one of his creations. And even though I can't look as stunning as her, I'm going to try my hardest to be as close as possible. And you're going to help me pick a gorgeous dress out. Right?" the honey-blonde asked the other blonde.

Arizona smiled. "Of course Teddy. And you are definitely going to give her a run for the money as the most beautiful bride ever, we'll make sure of that don't worry" the blonde finished with a small nod of her head.

Teddy smiled in return. "Thank you." The honey-blonde glanced towards her fiancé. "Do you really think she's forgiven me for being a total bitch for a month and a half?" Teddy asked.

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah I do. Don't you? Has she said anything?" Arizona questioned.

The honey-blonde shook her head. "No she hasn't. And she's been really good to me and everything. I just have this feeling that something's bothering her, but I have no idea what it is. I just want her to be as happy as I am" Teddy sighed.

"She is Teddy. Trust me, as an impartial observer; that woman over there" Arizona pointed discretely to the red head "is over the moon happy about getting to marry you. But if you don't believe that you should talk to her about it. But don't you think it could just be something work related? I know for a fact that she's a little stressed out about all of the offers Callie is getting now. Maybe Addison could do with a little pampering and extra attention." Arizona winked.

"You're a genius Arizona. She could definitely use some pampering. She proposed to me, and she deserves that I do something for her in return. Maybe a weekend trip or something" Teddy got out of her seat. "Come on."

The two blondes made their way to the red head and the brunette. The mood wasn't as serious anymore and the pair was laughing. Addison looked up and smiled as the blondes approached. She reached out her hand for Teddy to take and tucked the other woman closer to her engulfing her in a hug by the waist and leaning her head against the honey blonde's stomach.

"Hey you guys. What's up?" the red head asked with a smile up at Teddy.

The honey-blonde smiled in return. "I hope we weren't interrupting anything?"

Addison shook her head. "Not at all. We were just talking about the possibility of Callie doing another movie while still being a part of 'Heart and Hospital'."

Arizona furrowed her brows in confusion. "You're doing another movie? When?"

Callie smiled at the blonde. "It's not final yet. I still have to talk it over with a few people" the brunette asked while looking into blue eyes telling Arizona that she would definitely be involved in the decision. "But maybe during and right after the summer break. I have an offer that is really interesting. But before going any further with it I just wanted to make sure, that it would be doable with my schedule here. Addison was really great the last time but I didn't want to just assume she'd be on board again."

The blonde couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Not only hadn't Callie told her about the movie until now, but her plan of spending a lot of time with the gorgeous woman during hiatus could be ruined big time.

"Cool. I can't wait to hear more about it" the blonde said with a strained smile that didn't fool the brunette at all.

"Yeah that sounds great Callie. And I'm glad to hear you aren't thinking of leaving us or anything" Teddy said with sincerity.

"No way. Addison is the reason I even get all of these offers and I'm eternally grateful to her. Besides she is taking such good care of all of us and I really love working here. I wouldn't consider leaving right now. Which is why we were talking about the possibility of maybe adapting my schedule for the first couple of months after hiatus" the brunette said with a smile at the red head that looked very relieved.

"And I'm really thankful for that Callie. You're important. To the show and to the people here" Addison replied.

"You really are Callie" Teddy replied before turning and smiling down at her fiancé. "I was actually coming to ask you if you had any plans that you forgot to tell me about this coming weekend?"

The red head smiled back. "Nope. And I'm looking forward to a weekend of no work or fancy dinners with board members or anything. I've actually decided that I won't bother thinking about any of it for even a second this weekend."

"That's perfect. Because then you're all mine. Don't make any plans either, because I've got plans for us. Just you and me" Teddy said as she leaned down to kiss the red head.

"I'm always all yours, honey. But that sounds nice and I can't wait" Addison replied just before the honey-blonde's lips captured her own.

Callie looked at Arizona who glanced back at her. Callie really wished she could kiss the blonde. The brunette craved the blonde's lips, and sometimes she hated that she couldn't just kiss her whenever she wanted. But right now Arizona looked kind of down and Callie knew it was probably because of her potential movie. The brunette took out her phone.

 _*You have no idea how kissable you look today Arizona. I can't wait to have you alone at home with me tonight. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was thinking about doing another movie, but I was going to, I promise. I just didn't want to bring it up before I knew it was even a possibility. You're going to be part of the decision Arizona. I won't do it if you don't want me to. – Callie_

Arizona felt her phone vibrate. As she took it out and read the text from Callie she couldn't help but smile. The other woman was really attentive to her feelings and her mood and the blonde really treasured that. She looked into chocolate brown eyes and mouthed a silent 'thank you'.

The foursome was interrupted by Mark strolling up to the table. "Whoa, Teddy and Addison ease up with the tonsil tennis would you. I'm not in the mood to seeing my boss do her fiancé on one of the cafeteria tables" the man joked.

"Suck it Mark. Remember Addison has the power to get rid of your sorry ass if she wants to" Teddy, who was now straddling the red head on her chair, annoyingly replied when Addison pulled away from the kiss.

Addison laughed at the honey-blonde. "Easy there tiger" she said as she hugged Teddy a little closer to her. "But she's right Mark. Remember that. And never ever interrupt me while I'm kissing my woman again" the red head added with a wink at the man to let him know she was joking.

"Oookay. Then I'm just going to grab my on-screen lover and head to set. Come on blondie, we've got to go find out you're pregnant" Mark said and held his hand out for Arizona. The duo had a very intense storyline coming up that was focusing on women's right to choose and men's destiny of sometimes being left out on that decision, and the blonde was kind of nervous she wouldn't be good enough and do it justice.

"Have fun! You guys will rock it, I know." Callie said pointedly at the blonde and finished with a smile at the both of them.

The blonde felt her heart swell for the brunette. Once again Callie picked up on her mood instantly. It was like she could read Arizona's mind, but the blonde knew that it was really just a result of the brunette paying very close attention to her. Arizona couldn't help but feel safe and comforted with a person like Callie caring about her. She would never be left to her own misery, because the brunette wouldn't let that happen to her.

Arizona and Mark left the three women with synchronously "Thank you"s aimed at the brunette.

The three women left at the table continued to talk about the happy couple's plans for their upcoming wedding. About ten minutes later Callie felt her phone vibrate.

 _*You're really great. I hope you know that I think that. And we'll talk about the movie thing, but if you really want to do it then you should Callie. I'll back you up 100%. And I can't wait for tonight either because you look so very kissable today too! – Arizona_

Callie smiled and put her phone back in her pocket. These last two weeks with Arizona had been nothing short of amazing. Not a single freak out or anything had happened; the two of them had just enjoyed being together. They were both somehow so at ease in the relationship now and the brunette couldn't wait for the day, when she could hold the blonde's hand in public and show the world that she was the lucky one that got to be with Arizona.

* * *

Arizona made her way through Callie's front door and as soon as the door shut behind her, her brown haired beauty appeared from the kitchen. "Finally, you're here" Callie breathed out and captured the blonde's lips with her own in a searing greeting.

"Mmm, I've missed that today" Arizona whispered as they parted.

Callie smiled "Me too, sweetie." She then caught glimpse of the duffel bag in the blonde's hand. "Hey, what's with the bag? Are you going somewhere?" the brunette asked unsurely.

Arizona blushed a little and pulled back from the brunette. "Actually I thought I might sleep here tonight. If you're up for an overnight guest?" she softly asked.

The brunette reached out and pulled the blonde back to her in a hug. "Seriously? I would love that Arizona." Callie had waited for this since the night after the Oscars. She had tried suggesting it a couple of times, but Arizona hadn't seemed up for it. Until now.

"I know I should probably have asked, but it was kind of a last minute thing. I just suddenly hated the idea of leaving you later and having to go home to my apartment just to sleep. We both know that I'm insanely incompetent at getting out of here at a decent time anyway, and it just seems to get worse with every visit. I just figured that maybe there was a chance at going to bed a little earlier, if we were going to bed together. I really want us to go to bed together tonight" the blonde justified into the brunette's shoulder.

"You don't need to explain Arizona. I'm happy that you want to stay with me. And you don't need a reason other than the fact that you feel like it. That is by far enough for me. And I really want us to go to bed together tonight as well" the brunette chuckled.

She took the blonde's bag from the other woman's hands, and put it down by the table in the hallway. Then she grabbed Arizona's hand and dragged her to the kitchen.

"I'm making pizza. I just need to put on the last of the toppings and then they're ready to go in the oven" the brunette said as she made her way to the kitchen counter that held to large pizza's. "Tell me about your scenes today? Did they go well?" Callie asked and looked over her shoulder to smile at Arizona.

The blonde sat down on one of the bar stools at the breakfast counter. "Yeah, I think they did. But the hard part is yet to come. And I'm really nervous about that. I've never had to act anything like this before. What if I suck?" Arizona let out with a huff.

Callie cleaned her hands on the dishtowel and made her way to the blonde. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss to slightly pouting pink lips. "You won't suck Arizona" the brunette stated.

"You don't know that" Arizona answered as she crossed her arms and her pout got even more prominent.

The brunette laughed and reached out to pull the blonde's arms from her chest and interlace their fingers. "You're the most adorable thing ever" Callie said and placed another kiss at the pink lips in front of her. She finished with a slight suck at the pouting bottom lip and Arizona moaned a little at that.

Then Callie looked into the blue orbs before her. "And I do know that Arizona. Because you are so talented. You and Mark are going to tell this story beautifully. I don't doubt that at all. And even though I hate and get slightly jealous of the fact that my ex-husband gets to fake-kiss you on set on a regular basis" this made the blonde smile a little "you two make each other better. It's like Mark's acting skills have skyrocketed since you got here, and you shine every time you've done scenes with him. You guys are a dream team! And every one will see that once this story airs" the brunette finished with a loving smile.

Arizona leaned forward and put her head on Callie's shoulder. "Thank you. You always know just what to say. I'm still nervous though." The brunette felt a sigh leave the blonde.

Callie kissed blonde locks softly. "I know that. And I get it, I do. It's an important story and you want to do it justice. But you will. Let me know if you ever want to go over any of your lines or talk about it or anything. I'll help you if you need it" the brunette answered.

Arizona pulled back a little and connected her lips with Callie's. It was a soft and chaste kiss, but the brunette couldn't help but moan slightly anyway. When they parted Callie leaned her forehead against Arizona's. "I really like kissing you" the brunette breathed out.

The blonde smiled and pulled further back to look into chocolate brown eyes. "I really like kissing you as well Callie. And I think that talking the lines and the whole thematic over with you will actually be really good and helpful. We're not going to do it tonight though. Tonight you are going to tell me all about this new movie you're definitely doing during summer hiatus and you're going to do it while you finish those delicious looking pizzas over there, because I am starving" Arizona smiled at the brunette.

Callie smiled in return. "Okay. But I meant it Arizona. I won't do the movie if you don't want me to. I know we probably both thought that hiatus meant us spending an awful lot of time together, and I will love doing that too" the brunette earnestly said. "Something about this script just drew me in."

"And you're going to do the movie, Callie. I want you to. We'll work out a way to see each other once in a while. I will be visiting my parents for a bit anyway, and I was also thinking of maybe inviting them and Tim somewhere, Hawaii possibly. I've always wanted to go. And even though I would have loved to, we wouldn't be spending every single second of hiatus together anyway. Do the movie. And then we'll see each other when you've got a couple of days of from shooting every now and then" the blonde said with certainty.

Callie couldn't help but pull the blonde of her stool and into a tight hug. "Thank you. You're the best. And I promise I'll spend every free time I have off set with you. Because I will miss you so much"

Arizona smiled and pushed the brunette away from her in a playful matter. She then turned the other woman around and leaned in to whisper softly in a caramel ear "I like the sound of that, because I'm going to miss you a lot too. But they say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I can't wait to find out if it's true." Then the blonde smacked Callie's firm ass. "Now get you sweet behind over there and finish that pizza for me" Arizona demanded with a adoring smile.

* * *

Callie and Arizona were lying pressed together side by side on the couch and some really heavy making out was happening. Arizona's hands were frantically roaming Callie's ass. It had quickly become her favorite thing to do, and she fondled it every chance she got. As Callie was wearing the maxi dress today instead of Jeans or sweats, Arizona felt she got a much better feeling of the other woman's butt. And it didn't disappoint. "You're such an ass-woman" the brunette stated with a smile and a little out of breath as she pulled back slightly.

The blonde giggled. "Sorry, I just can't help myself. It's such an amazing ass after all" she lovingly said and removed her hands to reach up and caress the other woman's cheeks.

The shift of the blonde's hands gave Callie the opportunity to shift them so she was now hovering above the other woman. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it" she said before leaning down and once again kissing Arizona. The blonde's arms moved around the taller woman's neck, and their tongues dueled. While they kissed Callie let one of her hands slide ever so slowly under the other woman's shirt. She let her hand stroke every inch of bare skin she found there and Arizona moaned slightly into her mouth. This fueled Callie on further and she let her hand glide upwards. She stopped when she was met with the bottom of a bra and paused to let her hand caress the soft flesh. As Arizona moaned once again, this time louder, the brunette slowly let her hand wander up a bra clad breast and when the blonde didn't protest she closed her hand around the lace bra and let her thumb brush the bra-clad nipple slightly.

"Fuck Callie" Arizona breathed out when she tore herself away from the kiss and arched her back as the other woman fondled her breast and nipple. She felt a fire raging within her like never before at the other woman's touch.

Callie was in awe. Seeing Arizona like this turned her on like nothing ever had. The blonde had her eyes closed, her head thrown back, her lips parted a little and a slight blush was starting to creep up her neck. The brunette leaned down and kissed the ivory neck. She left a trail of kisses all the way from the crook of the other woman's neck and up to her ear. "You are so fucking beautiful Arizona" she softly whispered.

The blonde let out a throaty moan in reply. Her brain had completely shut down the second Callie's hand made contact with her breast. She felt how the taller woman's hand made its way across her chest to the other breast and started giving it the same attention while the blonde still had her arms around the brunette's neck. Arizona almost couldn't handle it, and she shifted one of her hands and started roaming Callie's front. Finally her hand landed on a clothed breast.

"Oh my God" Callie exclaimed and rested her forehead against Arizona's when an ivory hand clasped her right breast. She covered the other woman's lips with her own and they moaned simultaneously at the feeling of the touches to their breasts at the same time as their tongue's glided together effortlessly.

The brunette had never felt anything like this. It was all kinds of amazing and she was sure that she could absolutely come just by Arizona caressing her breasts. And then all of a sudden it hit her. Arizona was touching her breast. And not just touching. She was caressing it ever so softly the one minute and pinching her nipple roughly the next with her cute feminine hands. Those were not the hands of Mark or any other man, they were soft, feminine hands. Callie suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. And not because of the staggering kiss.

"We need to stop, Arizona" she said as she pulled back a little. Arizona moaned in reply and sought out the plump lips once again. The brunette pulled back a little further. "Stop, Arizona" she breathed out and couldn't help but moan a little as the other woman once again pinched her nipple. "STOP. ARIZONA, JUST STOP!" she spoke loudly as she pulled herself and her hand away from the blonde and went to sit at the other end of the couch.

It took a second for Arizona's brain to absorb what was happening and she opened her eyes to find a very uncomfortable looking Callie eyeing her from the other end of the couch. She slowly sat up and crossed her legs while she tried to calm her raging heart. What had just happened? Arizona herself had loved every second of it, but something obviously freaked the brunette out. Had she not liked what the blonde had done to her?

"What's wrong?" she asked softly and a little timidly as she sated playing with a loose thread on one of the couch cushions.

Callie inhaled. She could tell that her action had made the blonde doubt if she'd liked it at all. "I'm sorry Arizona. It's not that I didn't like it. Trust me I did. VERY much" the brunette honestly said.

Arizona locked her eyes on the brown orbs across the couch. "Then why did you want to stop?" she asked nervously.

The brunette sighed and looked down. She had no idea how to tell Arizona what had happened.

The blonde watched as the other woman clearly struggled with what to say right now. She uncrossed her legs and crawled her way to the other end of the couch. She straddled Callie and put her hands on the brunette's cheeks to gain eye contact with her. "What is it Callie?" she asked softly. "You can tell me anything."

Callie sighed. "I just panicked. I'm sorry" the brunette said ashamed and tears rose in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey. None of that please. It's okay. Why did you panic?" the blonde lovingly questioned.

The brunette shook her head a little. "God, it's so stupid" she sighed.

Arizona couldn't help but give Callie a small smile. "It's not. I want to know what's bothering you. Because I have to say, that I can't remember being turned on like that ever before, and I would very much like to experience it again someday. So please tell me so we can fix it together somehow."

Callie smiled in gratitude at the blonde. "It's just that I started thinking about the fact that your hands weren't Mark's. Or any other man's for that matter. I have never ever worried about the fact, that you're a woman, but it just hit me all of a sudden when you had your hand on my breast. Because it was so soft and different than any other hand that has ever touched me before. Please don't be mad and please don't leave" the brunette said with a plea.

The blonde smiled big at the other woman. "Of course I'm not mad Callie. It's okay. And I promised you; I'm done running. Besides it would be so very hypocritically of me to get mad and run for the hills the first time you ever had a freak out about this, when it's was kind of my favorite thing to do up until this point in our relationship." The brunette couldn't help but smile as the other woman said the word relationship. She was so happy they were at a place where Arizona called it that without even flinching. "And I get that it's different Callie. To me it was a VERY good different, but I get it if it takes some time to get used to. And I'm so sorry that my lust-infused brain didn't register when you told me to stop. I'll try to pay more attention the next time. It's just that my brain turns to mush and everything else ceases to exist when I'm with you, and when your hand landed on my breast it just took that to a whole other level" the blonde apologized.

Callie chuckled and leaned her head against an ivory chest. She placed a loving kiss on the other woman's collar bone. "It's okay. Everything else ceases to exist when you're with me too. And don't worry it was good different to me too. No one has ever touched me like that before. It was amazing Arizona."

The blonde smiled and kissed brown locks. "Tell me if there's anything I can do to help. Or to make it more comfortable for you."

The brunette looked up in cerulean blue eyes. "I don't know if there's anything to do about it. I just need to get comfortable with the idea of a woman touching me intimately. Because it's only the idea of it that's a problem. My body liked it very much. It'll get better in time I'm sure."

Arizona smiled. "We'll just continue to take it slow Callie. And let me know if or when anything gets uncomfortable for you. Then we'll slow down."

Callie was once again so grateful for Arizona. "Do you still want to spend the night?" the brunette asked with uncertainty.

The blonde smiled. "I'd really like that. If you want me to? We can do it another night if it's too much tonight. It'll suck I don't get to sleep in the same bed as you, but I'll understand Callie." Arizona smiled reassuringly.

"I really want you to stay. I've been looking forward to that for ages" Callie drew out the last word and it made the brunette chuckle.

"Well in that case I think we should call it a night. Andy beat the shit out of us this morning and I just want to lie down curled up to you and talk for a while until I can't keep my eyes open anymore" Arizona said as she brushed a lock of hair behind the brunette's ear.

"I like that plan. Let's go. You can have the bathroom first and I'll lock everything up down here in the meantime. Do you need anything? A toothbrush?" Callie asked while running her hands lovingly up and down the blonde's back.

Arizona shook her head. "Nope. I actually bought a new one on my way here. I thought it could live here with you. If that's okay?" the blonde asked shyly.

Callie gave the blonde a big smile in return. "Of course that's okay. I would love for your toothbrush to live here with me."

"Great" Arizona stated as she demounted herself from the other woman. She gave the brunette a kiss on her cheek. "I'll see you upstairs." With that she made her way up the stairs and into Callie's bedroom.

The brunette took her time to lock up downstairs giving Arizona time to finish in the bathroom. As she went to turn off the lights in the living room her gaze fell upon the pictures on her wall, in particular one of her and Mark. She smiled at the memory but as her eyes perused the wall she couldn't help but feel that there should be pictures of Arizona up there. She couldn't remember ever taking a picture with the blonde actually.

At last Callie made her way up the stairs. As she opened the door to the bedroom she found Arizona sitting with her legs crossed reading a magazine on the left side of the bed in a pair of shorts and a top. The brunette made her way to the other woman and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. Arizona looked up and smiled at her. The brunette let one of her hands caress a flawless thigh as she leaned in and placed a kiss on pink lips. "Mmm, minty" Callie exclaimed with a smile and a wink as she pulled back. "I'll be right out. Make yourself at home. Oh, and you can take the right side of the bed, I know you want to. I really don't mind" she smiled understandingly at the blonde and made her way to the bathroom.

When Callie emerged from the bathroom in her sleep wear Arizona was lying under the covers on the right side of the bed. The brunette smile and made her way to the other side. She pulled the duvet back and sighed as she lay down on soft sheets. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Arizona reached to turn of the bedside lamp. "Wait!" Callie exclaimed. She reached for her phone on the nightstand and opened the camera before snuggling closer to the blonde.

"What are you doing?" Arizona asked with astonishment.

Callie switched to the front camera and held it out, snapping a picture before turning to Arizona. "This is the first time we share a bed for an entire night. And I want to remember it" the brunette answered.

Arizona smiled softly and leaned towards Callie. "Then let's make sure it's a good photo" she said as she reached for the phone. She held it away from the two of them and snapped a picture as she nuzzled her nose against Callie's and then she captured the brunette's lips in a deep kiss while snapping another. "That should do it" she said as she pulled back with one last peck to plump lips.

The brunette smiled and reached for the phone. She looked at the photos and they were perfect. You could tell that they were lying in bed, but the majority of the frame was taken up by the two of them. Callie especially liked the one where Arizona brushed an ivory nose against her own. The brunette herself was smiling big with her eyes closed and the blonde was looking at her with eyes so full of adoration. "They're perfect" Callie breathed out.

Arizona rested her head in one of her hands and looked down at the brunette. "When do you have to get up tomorrow?"

"At 8. I have to be at the studio by 9. But don't worry, I'll get up and send you off at 4.30" the brunette answered.

"I'm not going to the morning work out tomorrow, so don't worry about that" Arizona replied.

Callie furrowed her brows in confusion. "Why not?"

Arizona smiled at Callie and leaned down until their faces were only inches apart. "Because it's the first morning I get to wake up next to you. And I don't want to ruin that experience by shuffling out the door half asleep at 4.30. I want to watch you all adorable with your bed hair and enjoy morning cuddles and kisses with you before going to work" the blonde finished.

The brunette smiled back. "Really?"

"Really" Arizona said and stole a peck from plump lips. "One day won't kill me or my shape. And the guys skip training all the time, so I'm sure I'll still be able to kick their asses. I really want to enjoy the morning with you. So how about we set the alarm for 7.30? That way we have some extra time to just enjoy the morning? I have to be at the studio by 9 as well."

Callie nodded and leaned up connecting her lips with Arizona's. The brunette couldn't help but think about how much the other woman had changed since their first kiss. "Thank you" she murmured against pink lips.

Arizona pulled back and smiled at the brunette spread out underneath her "For what, gorgeous?"

The brunette reached up and cupped the other woman's cheek. "For not using the first kiss as an excuse to never talk to me again. For trying really hard to figure out all of the conflicting emotions running through your beautiful head. For finally relaxing in this relationship, making you the sane one today during my freak out. For choosing me instead of work out with the guys tomorrow. For saving me Arizona. One of the first times you and I really talked to each other, I told you, that your presence gave me hope. Hope that someday seeing Mark wouldn't be any different than seeing Derek or Alex. Hope that there was a happy ending in my future. I'm there now. Seeing Mark doesn't cause my heart to break at all any more. I barely remember him and me as a couple. Because all of my thoughts are now with you. And I really hope that my happy ending is lying with me in this bed in this very moment. But even if we shouldn't work out I need you to know, that I'll be forever grateful to you. When you entered the studio on the first day I had no idea that the significance you would have in my life would contain this; lying right here with me in bed having felt me up on the couch an hour ago. But you've proved to be more important to me and my life than I ever imagined."

Arizona had tears in her eyes as he looked down on the sincere brown eyes. "No, thank YOU Callie. For not letting me use the first kiss as an excuse to never talk to you again. For being patient and giving me time to sort out my shit. For letting me take the time I needed to be able to relax in this relationship. And for giving me a very good reason to skip work out tomorrow morning" the duo chuckled at that. "And you weren't the only one that was lost. You know I was actually a little jealous of you when I first got here because I'd never experienced heartbreak like the one you suffered. Coming here the morning after the Oscars and seeing Marks shoes by the door caused me more sadness than any ex-boyfriend ever had. You are so amazing Callie and I want to be your happy ending so bad, because I'm sure you're mine. And I will fight every day to make that happen" the blonde stated honestly.

It was the closest to a declaration of love the two women had ever been and Callie couldn't help but lean up and cover the blonde's lips with her own. The kiss was soft and she pulled Arizona down with her as she leaned back against her pillow. The brunette's tongue softly demanded entrance to Arizona's mouth and the blonde parted her lips instantly, letting it in. Their tongues gently glided against each other and it was one of the best kisses Callie had ever had. Her head was spinning from sheer joy.

Arizona tenderly pulled back and smiled at the awesomeness of the kiss. The gorgeous woman underneath her had become so important to her in such a short period of time and the blonde never ever wanted to live in a world where someone other than her got to kiss this stunning creature like that. "We should get some sleep" she lovingly said and bent down to quickly kiss slightly swollen plump lips.

"We should" Callie agreed. "Little spoon or big spoon?" she asked the blonde.

Arizona smiled. "Whichever."

The brunette shook her head "No, tell me what you prefer Arizona."

The blonde sighed a little and gave Callie a pensive smile. "Big spoon tonight then. I'd like to hold you"

Callie smiled, gave Arizona one last kiss and turned her back to the blonde. Arizona scooted over and wrapped an arm around the brunette's waist dragging her to her. Callie put her hand on top of Arizona's intertwining their fingers and lifted their joint hands to kiss the palm of the other woman's hand. "Goodnight Arizona. Sweet dreams."

Arizona kissed Callie's scalp. "Goodnight Calliope. You too." With that they both drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Callie woke the next morning with long blonde locks draped across her chest and a couple of unruly strands were tickling her chin and lips. Sometime during the night the two of them had shifted and Callie was now lying on her back with Arizona resting her head on the brunette's chest. Callie smiled and lifted the arm that wasn't holding the blonde close to her body to get her phone and get a look at the time. It was 7.19 and the brunette didn't bother going back to sleep for an extra ten minutes. She wanted to make the most of her morning with Arizona.

She shifted and leaned down to place a kiss on an ivory temple. "Wake up beautiful lady" she softly said as she continued to kiss the smooth skin. When she nuzzled her nose against the blonde's temple the other woman started to stir. "Mmmm, best wake up ever" came from the blonde in a hoarse voice when she returned to reality. She tilted her head a little and opened her eyes to gaze directly into warm, brown orbs. "Good morning Calliope" the blonde breathed out in satisfaction.

"Good morning Arizona" Callie softly replied. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept better last night than I have in 29 years" Arizona said as she let out a small yawn.

Callie laughed at the blonde "You're a goof. But I'm glad you slept well." The brunette took in the blonde's face as the other woman hugged her tightly around the waist and closed her eyes again. "Arizona?"

"What?" the blonde hummed in reply.

"What am I to you?" Callie questioned and blue eyes shot open as soon as the words left the plump lips.

Arizona shifted a little and looked up at the brunette again. "I'm not sure where you are going with that question Callie?"

The brunette moved to sit up a little and Arizona removed herself from the brunette and sat up next to her. Callie sighed and took one of the ivory hands in her own. She sat there for a minute just admiring the way their hands looked together. Then she lifted her gaze to meet questioning blue eyes. "I just…I'm not saying we should go public with this yet or anything because I think we need to be a little more secure in our relationship for a little longer before doing that, but I would just like to know, am I your girlfriend? Because I feel like your girlfriend and I just want to know if that is how you see me?"

Callie watched as blue eyes once again filled with panic and the brunette cursed her big mouth. The blonde was going to run again.

Arizona felt like she was suffocating. Girlfriends? Was that what they were? Had it kind of just sneaked up on her without her discovering it? Then she started thinking about what the brunette had asked her. How did she see Callie? And how wanted she to see Callie?

The brunette held her breath as an internal battle very clearly took place in the other woman. The blue eyes shifted between an adoring and a panicked look and it confused the hell out of the brunette. Finally though, the beautiful orbs in front of her seemed to settle.

Arizona felt her face break out into a giant smile as she breathed out "Yeah Callie, you're my girlfriend." As soon as the words left her lips she just wanted to say it over and over again. Gorgeous, amazing Callie freaking Torres was her girlfriend.

The brunette's smile got just as big and she leaned in to share a passionate kiss with the blonde. When they parted Callie cupped an ivory cheek. "Well now that we got that settled I'd like to go make my girlfriend breakfast. How does she feel about waffles and bacon?" the brunette questioned.

"Your girlfriend would love that, but only if we can eat it in our PJs" the blonde playfully said and leaned in to steal another kiss before getting of the bed. "I'm going to use the bathroom real quick and then I'll be down to help you."

Callie smiled. "Breakfast in our PJs it is! Anything you want. I'll meet you downstairs" the brunette stated as she moved from the bed to the door. With one last smile at the blonde she left the bedrrom and walked down the stairs. She couldn't wipe the smile of her face even if she wanted to. This morning was perfect.

 **That's it for chapter 18! I hope you really liked it. It was a bit of a fluffy chapter. And not too much of a cliffhanger for you guys.**

 **As always let me know how you liked it! ;)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	19. Chapter 19

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys!**

 **Wedding is over, and luckily it was all kinds of amazing! The bride and groom really enjoyed their day and I slayed as a toastmaster. Although it was kind of stressful and tiresome and I don't ever remember feeling as run down and spent as I did late last night, I actually really enjoyed the task. And I slept for 11 hours straight curled up to my favorite girl afterwards, so naturally now I'm as good as new ;)**

 **A lot has been going on since my last update. Sweden was sadly cut from the EUROs because they played like crap, BUT Wales and Iceland still remain, and since I can't get enough of Gareth Bale (I might have a slight crush on him, because that guy is HOT) I'm all for keeping Wales in the tournament for as long as possible. And I have huge respect for both Wales and Iceland – I guess it shows how far you can go if you're passionate about what you're doing!**

 **Also the Brexit happened! WHAT THE HELL! I have no understanding whatsoever for that decision, but it happened, and I just hope the rest of The European Union will stand united and fight to keep it that way, because I'm a firm believer that the saying 'We're stronger together, than apart' is true. Not going to rant more about politics in my authors notes I promise, I just had to address this! Okay, I can't actually promise that, because if the Americans for some incomprehensible reason should elect Donald Trump for president then I will ABOSLUTELY rant about that - if I'm still a fanfiction writer at that time!**

 **Thank you again for your love for my story! It really warms my heart every time I log in, and some of you have taken the time to write something nice about it.**

 **Guest Jenna: Thank you, it's nice to know that my work is appreciated, because it is rather time comsuming. And please don't cry when you have to wait for a new chapter - I hate when people cry ;) But I'm so happy you like it and can't wait for the next chapter! :D**

 **Srock: Welcome to the HD & HD universe! :) New readers are always very much appreciated. And that would be so awesome, if you would draw that – obviously you are incredibly talented! **

**I have a slightly busy week, so it is very possible that you'll have to wait until Thursday for the next update. But I'll do my best to update sooner than that, since you waited so long for this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy chapter 19! :)**

CHAPTER 19:

Arizona groaned and reached out to turn off her alarm as it sounded out in the bedroom. She absolutely hated getting up at 4.30 in the morning lately. And that was nothing like her. Since she was a kid she'd been the kind of person who rose with the sun. It was just her nature. But for the last three weeks she had cursed her stupid morning workout routine more often than not.

She sighed and pulled the tan arm that rested on her waist a little closer around her as she pushed herself further back into her girlfriend. This was why she'd started hating getting up early. She would much rather stay in the warm bed and snooze with her brown haired beauty.

"You have to get up Arizona, or you're going to be late - AGAIN" came a hoarse voice behind her before a soft kiss was placed on the back of her head.

The blonde turned around and studied her gorgeous bed companion, who still had her eyes closed, for a little while before leaning over and kissing plump lips. "I know" she sighed. "I just don't want to. Especially because today is the last morning I get to wake up with you for a while" the blonde pouted.

Callie sleepily opened her eyes and took in the other woman. For the past three weeks, the duo had spent the night together as often as they could, and every time Callie woke up next to Arizona it never ceased to amaze her how beautiful the blonde looked in the morning. The brunette pulled her arm from the Arizona's waist and caressed an ivory cheek. "It's just five days Arizona. We can do five days. And it's not like we won't be able to talk to each other."

Arizona groaned. "I know that too. It's just that I'll miss you. I kind of hate you for promising Rei and your mother that you'll be going to Miami for Easter" the blonde pouted again.

Callie chuckled. "Yeah why I would want to spend time with my family is a mystery" she stated before leaning closer to the blonde "And I'll miss you too. So very much." The brunette then captured pink lips with her own for what was supposed to be a chaste kiss, but Arizona deepened it right away as she gently forced her tongue into Callie's mouth.

The brunette moaned and started softly sliding her tongue against the blonde's. It amazed Callie how kissing Arizona never got monotonous, even though they were doing it quite a lot. When she felt an ivory hand connect with her short-clad ass, the brunette pulled back. "Nu uh, missy. None of that because then you'll most definitely be late."

The two women had become very familiar with each other's bodies lately. Callie no longer freaked when Arizona touched her on her breasts and the other night the blonde had to stop Callie in her caresses of her bra-clad mounds because the blonde was hurtling towards an orgasm and she really didn't want it to happen like that for the first time with Callie. Sex hadn't been mentioned yet by either woman, and they were both content with just making out a lot while getting to know the feeling of each other's skin and body.

Arizona groaned again. "Fiiiiiine. I'll get up now." The blonde kissed plump lips one more time and brushed a lock of brown hair from the other woman's face. "I've bought you your favorite cereal. It's in the cabinet with mine. And I know I've said it before, but please make yourself at home."

Callie sent a sleepy smile at the blonde. "Thank you, you didn't have to do that. And I will. Like always. Now go show those annoying boys how it's done" the brunette stated.

Arizona laughed and pecked Callie's lips. "I will. Go back to sleep. I'll see you at work later."

The blonde then made her way to the bathroom. She quickly peed, changed into her workout clothes and brushed her teeth. When she made it back into the bedroom it took all of her willpower not to abandon the training at the sight that met her. Callie was back to sleep and was now spread eagle across the bed as she hugged Arizona's pillow to her chest. She looked so beautiful and serene and Arizona couldn't help but be exceedingly grateful that the other woman could look that relaxed lying in her bed.

She walked over, placed a soft yet lingering kiss on a caramel cheek. "You take my breath away Calliope. Sweet dreams." Then she made her way out the door and to the studio.

* * *

Three hours later Callie was strolling through the studio when she was suddenly yanked into a supply closet. She yelped in surprise, but relaxed as soon as a pair of pink lips connected with her own. She felt a soft tongue glide across her lower lip and she instantly granted it access. Arizona pulled the brunette closer and sighed in satisfaction as she felt Callie's tongue softly massage her own.

When the need for air became too much, Arizona pulled back a little, drew in some air and pecked the plump lips in front of her one more time in a lingering kiss.

"Well hello to you too" the brunette breathed out as she tried to catch her breath. "What was that all about?" The two of them had never kissed at work before. Not even in the confines of their trailers.

Arizona sighed a little. "I just wanted one last kiss before parting for Easter. You have back to back scenes today, and when you finish, I'm already in the air on my way to Georgia."

Callie reached up and caressed the blonde's cheek softly. "Thank you for that. Because all morning I couldn't help but be a little sad, that I didn't enjoy our morning kiss more."

The blonde smiled in return. "Yeah, it was like you couldn't get me out of bed fast enough. I know my bed is good, but you could at least pretend to enjoy it the most, when I'm in it too" Arizona deadpanned.

Callie chuckled. "Well I have thought about getting one just like it for my own house." Then the brunette leaned closer to the blonde. "But know, that I always enjoy things more, when you're there with me" Callie said before leaning in and kissing Arizona again.

The blonde kissed the brunette back and tried to memorize as much of it as she could knowing that this was probably the last kiss she got to share with the brunette for five days. When they parted Arizona rested her forehead against Callie's. "Even Easter?" she asked in a whisper.

Callie smiled. "Are you kidding me? Easter would be so much better if you were there with me."

The blonde pulled back and looked into chocolate brown eyes. "I'm really going to miss you."

The brunette gave the blonde her most encouraging smile. "I know. I'm going to miss you too. But you can call me whenever you want. And I'll answer, I promise."

Then tears welled up in blue eyes and Callie instinctively pulled Arizona to her in a hug. "Please don't cry. These five days will go by so fast. You're going to have fun with Tim, talk to your mom and do all kinds of carpentry work with your dad. You miss them Arizona and they miss you. Easter will be great. And I can't wait till we come back here, and you're going to tell me all about it."

Arizona smiled into the brunette's shoulder. "Well, when you put it that way it does sound kind of nice. And I do miss them."

Callie pulled back. "It's going to be awesome. And we'll see each other on Monday. I've got to go, but text me when you get there safely, will you?"

The blonde nodded her head. "Absolutely. And I'll call you tomorrow night. Enjoy your time with your family, Callie."

"You too" the brunette replied, stole one last peck from pink lips and left the supply closet.

* * *

As Tim shut the car engine off, the front door was yanked open and Barbara Robbins leaped through it and towards the truck with a giant smile on her face.

"See, I told you, she'd be there like a private welcoming committee" Tim said and winked at the blonde woman sitting in the passenger seat.

Arizona chuckled. "Yeah, she almost always is. It's a little much some days, but today is not one of those days" the blonde finished just before the car door was pulled open and she was engulfed in a hug by her mother.

"Oh Arizona, it's so good to see you! How are you? You look great. And so happy. Please come in and tell me all about what you're experiencing in LA, honey!" Barbara Robbins spoke fast.

The younger blonde laughed as she eased out of the hug that was a little awkward due to the angle. "It's good to see you too, mom! And you know most of it because we talk all the time, remember?"

The oldest Robbins smiled at her daughter. "I know. But I want to hear it again. Tim, can you please grab her suitcase?"

Tim smiled at his sister and mother. "No problem."

Then the threesome made their way to the house. As soon as she walked through the door a very familiar smell hit the blonde. She turned and smiled at her mother as she kicked off her shoes. "You made my favorite brownies?"

Barbara smiled back as Tim put the suitcase down by the door and strolled off to the kitchen. "Of course I did. I haven't seen you for more than three months honey. And I could just tell by the last few phone calls that you're doing really well and are really thriving, and I wanted to celebrate that. And we always celebrate big things in your life with triple chocolate brownies." The eldest Robbins woman smiled gently at Arizona and walked up to her.

Just as she was in front of her daughter Barbara whispered. "And I have a feeling I know the reason you're seemingly this happy, and we are going to find some time to talk during your visit, because I want to hear all about her."

Arizona smiled softly and whispered back. "I'd really like that, mom."

"Hey, are you guys coming or what? Because I want to eat those brownines and hear about how it is working with an Academy Award Nominee" Tim yelled at the women from the kitchen.

Barbara watched as Arizona's eyes took on another kind of sparkle as she no doubt let her thought wonder to Callie. "We're coming. And she's just a normal person Tim" the younger blonde yelled back and sent a bright smile at her mother.

* * *

Callie sat on a lounge chair by the pool in her parents' house. She was watching Rei and Aria play around in the water while she texted Arizona. The blonde had sent her a good morning text asking if it would still be okay if she called that evening.

 _*Hey pretty lady. Sorry for the late reply. I woke up to family breakfast and haven't had the chance of a minute to myself until now. But you can call me tonight for sure. I meant it when I said, that you can call me anytime and I will answer. I'll just tell everyone that you're Natalie ;) I miss you too. But I'm going to spend the day with Rei, Aria and Jael, so that will be entertaining for sure. Have fun with Tim and your dad. Text me a picture of the bench when you're finished with it :) – Callie_

"Entertaining? It's going to be fucking superb!" Callie jumped ten feet in the air as the voice of her sister penetrated the air.

"Jesus Christ Jael, you scared the shit out of me" the eldest brunette exclaimed as she put her phone down on the table while trying to calm her racing heart. Then she got kind of mad. "And don't read my texts!" she said in a serious tone.

Jael chuckled and handed her older sister a can of diet coke. "I didn't mean to scare you. And the text was just right there." She then sat down on the lounge chair next to Callie's and diverted her gaze to the duo in the pool. "'Pretty lady', huh?" she questioned with a smirk as she took a sip of her own coke.

Callie threw her head back and groaned which made Jael quickly add. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to Big-C. But like I said at Christmas, if you DO want to talk about it, just let me know."

The younger brunette paused and looked at her big sister before continuing. "My whole life, you've been there for me hermanita. I can't remember one single time, where I needed guidance or support or love or an allied for secret happiness and you weren't offering it to me in an instant. I know I may have been an idiot at letting you know, especially during my wilder years, but you are the best big sister ever Callie. I don't know how I would ever have made it without you. Aria is great and all, but it's just like you're always so tuned in on the three of us, no matter where you are. You have this way of always knowing to call or visit home JUST when one of us needs it somehow. It's like you can sense it. Aria and I have talked about it actually. And I just want to be there for you in return when you need guidance or support or love or an allied for secret happiness. Because I'm FINALLY at a place in my life where I've discovered the significance of that. And I'm sorry I haven't offered it to you earlier, because I'm sure you could have needed it in the past. I just hope that someone else was there for you then."

Jael reached up and wiped away a tear that had escaped her eyes. "I love you. I want nothing more than for you to be happy. And I think you are. Happy I mean. Because you seem changed. Like you are at peace. Mama and Papi have noticed it too by the way. And if you need to share that or talk about anything at all, then I'm here for you. Please let me in. Let me be a part of this with you" Jael finished softly yet seriously.

Callie had felt tears rising in her eyes at her sisters heartfelt words. She reached her free hand out and intertwined her fingers with her younger sister's. "Thank you Jael. I love you too. And maybe we could do something together; just you and me. And I can tell you about what's going on in my life. Because I'd really like to tell you about that - and the 'pretty lady'" the eldest Torres sister spoke with a crack to her voice. Then she squeezed her sister's hand. "And you're an incredible sister Jael. I'm so proud of the way you've grown these last few years. You're turning into such a caring, marvelous woman, and I'm so happy I get to be in your life to witness that."

Just as Jael opened her mouth to reply the two of them were covered in water and laughter hit their ears. Callie turned her attention to the pool and saw Rei and Aria doing a dance in the water celebrating their success at drenching their unknowing sisters.

The eldest brunette turned her attention back to Jael and smirked. "What do you say we go teach those two not to mess with us?"

Jael returned the smirk and pulled Callie with her by the hand as she stood up. "They won't know what hit them Big-C!"

* * *

Arizona had been away from Callie for two whole days and she really hated it. Of course they had texted each other and true to her word the brunette had picked up instantly when Arizona called her last night. And although Arizona really enjoyed her time with her family she still missed the other woman a lot. She missed her scent and her soft caresses.

The blonde was currently sitting on the porch swing drinking a beer and contemplating life. She loved the peace and quiet of Little Creek, Georgia, but she found that she also missed the hustle and bustle of LA.

Footsteps on the wooden porch alerted her to another presence, and seconds later Tim sat down on the porch swing next to her with his own beer in hand. "What are you doing out here, little sis?"

Arizona turned her head to look at her brother and smiled. "Just enjoying the quietness of it all. You don't get this in LA" the blonde woman said and gestured out to the open space and towards the sky and the stars.

Tim smiled. "I guess you don't. How are things in LA, Arizona? And WHY haven't I visited you yet?"

Arizona chuckled. "They're really good Tim. And I don't know. I've already told you that you are welcome any time! You can have my guest room."

The blonde man looked down to his beer and started playing with the label. "Do you think, that maybe, there'll be room for two in that guest room?" He then nervously looked up at his sister.

Arizona gasped. "Timothy Robbins, are you trying to tell me that you have a girlfriend?" the blonde woman exclaimed loudly.

Tim looked around. "Schhh, keep it down. Mom and dad don't know yet." He then smiled really big. "But yes, I am."

Arizona pulled her brother in to a big hug. "Congratulations Tim." Then the blonde woman released her brother again and sent him a bright smile. "Well, what are you waiting for bro? Tell me all about her!"

Tim sighed and Arizona recognized the sigh immediately. It was one of happiness and love. "You know her actually. It's Amanda." Tim took a sip of his beer.

Amanda Raleigh was the former beauty queen of Little Creek. That one girl that made ALL the guys swoon. She was tall, with flaming red hair that curled softly and mesmerizing green eyes. She and Arizona used to be best friends. Inseparable actually. They really got each other and spent countless hours sharing their big dreams for the future. And as soon as High School was over Amanda had moved away for college. Arizona had taken a little longer to decide and had stayed back in little creek for a year before leaving for college as well. And during that year the two girls' friendship had changed. Their life had grown so different in the blink of an eye, and Arizona had very little contact with Amanda now. Apart from keeping track on her on social media she knew next to nothing about the red head's life.

"When you say Amanda, you mean Amanda Raleigh, right? Just to make sure we're on the same page!" Arizona asked in disbelief.

Tim laughed at his sister. "Of course I'm talking about her. I don't think there's ever been another Amanda in Little Creek."

The blonde woman then smiled at her brother. "How the hell did that happen? I thought she was in charge of communication at some firm in Atlanta?" Arizona questioned.

"She is. She couldn't get time off for Christmas so she came back to visit her parents in February. She walked in to mom's diner one day when I was sitting there, and we talked while she ate. She actually approached me, because she wanted to know how you were doing. She wanted me to tell you, that she was really happy all of your dreams had come true by the way" Tim paused and took a sip of beer before continuing. "And then when she had to leave, she suggested we took a hike together the next day, and on that hike we just talked a lot about anything and everything and then one thing led to another" the blonde man finished with a shrug.

"What does that even mean; One thing led to another? How are you two maintaining a relationship, a secret one none the less, when she lives in Atlanta? It's an hour and a half away, Tim" Arizona asked.

Tim groaned. "I know, believe me. We talk on the phone and text each other a lot. And luckily dad sent me to pick something up in Atlanta one day and we had lunch. Then I went there for a weekend trip, telling mom and dad I visited Peter. And then she came here visiting her parents again last month. It's only been two months Az. But I'm going to tell mom and dad soon, because I want to spend so much more time with her, than I currently can."

Arizona couldn't help but smile as her brothers eyes sparkled in the porch light when he spoke of Amanda. "Is she still as beautiful as she was back then?" the blonde woman asked her brother and took a sip of her own beer.

"Oh God Az, she is even more beautiful. I don't understand what someone that look like her is doing with someone that look like me!" Tim said in awe.

Arizona put her arm around her brother's shoulder. "I know. You're a great guy Tim. You're smart, funny, outgoing, caring and attentive. And you are really handsome. I know you don't believe me, but you are quite sought after. Girls drool over you. Especially when you take your shirt off!"

The blonde man laughed. "Well I did take of my shirt during our hike. Maybe that's what reeled her in." Then his expression turned more serious. "What about you and the love? Any hot guys taking their shirts off in Hollywood?"

Arizona chuckled at her brother's comment. And then she felt a little guilty. Tim had just confided in her and told her about Amanda. Before even letting their parents know. And Arizona really wanted to tell him about Callie in return, but she just couldn't will herself to do it.

"Nope, sadly not. Not in front of me anyway. Except Mark Sloan, but he's Mark Sloan" the blonde woman said as she made a face that made Tim chuckle. "But I'm really happy for you Tim. And there's absolutely room for two in my guest bedroom. I hope you take me up on the offer and bring her. I would love to get to se Amanda again and hang out with you two."

Tim smiled at his sister in gratitude. "Thank you. And you'll find someone who makes you as happy as Amanda makes me. Soon. I can feel it."

Arizona smiled at his words. She was pretty sure she already found that someone. "I hope you're right, Tim."

* * *

Callie was currently beating the crap out of a sandbag that Jael held. The two sisters had opted to a work out together this Saturday morning before talking, knowing full well that their other two sisters would pass on the workout. Actually Rei hadn't even passed; she had just rolled her eyes at the suggesting of a sister workout and left the room.

After her last hit at the sandbag, she tore of her boxing gloves and she and Jael sat down with a bottle of water on a bench off to the side. The gym had offered to close down the boxing studio for two hours giving Callie some privacy for her workout. The brunette was grateful for that, because she hated being interrupted or photographed during working out. Those were rarely flattering photos.

Jael looked at her sister and smiled. "So! Tell me what's going on with this pretty lady, Big-C! I'm assuming it's Arizona Robbins?"

Callie felt a giant smile creep across her face. "I am happy Jael, that's what's going on. And yes it's Arizona. I know you know, that I wasn't just sighing in content at finally getting to lie down on my couch the day before the Oscars, when you guys called me to wish me god luck" the older brunette smirked at her beaming sister. "I was with Arizona then, and I've been with her a lot since, every chance I got actually, and she's just…she's amazing and every minute I get to spend with her just makes my life a little more complete!"

The younger brunette smiled at the sheer contentment radiating of her sister. "When you say, you're with Arizona, you mean…"

"Talking to her, kissing her, touching her. She's my girlfriend Jael. Secret girlfriend, but still my girlfriend!" Callie said as her thoughts wandered to the beautiful blonde.

"Woah hermanita, that's big news! Congratulations! From the interviews I've seen and read with her she seems really nice. I'm SO glad you're happy, you deserve that Big-C. Are you in love with her?"

Callie looked her sister straight in the eyes. "I don't know Jael. I honestly think I'm kind of scared to let myself go there. Because she's got quite the history of freaking out, and although we've had some really fantastic weeks together lately, I think I'm subconsciously stopping my mind from letting me feel it, because she could break me. I will be heartbroken if I let myself fall in love with her and she freaks out and leaves. Besides I don't feel like I can let myself really fall in love with her as long as she's only my girlfriend in secret. I need to be able to hide how I feel about her to the world around us. And that gets more and more difficult with each passing day without me acknowledging if I'm in love with her or not."

Jael smiled sympathetically at the other woman. "You should let your feelings for her develop naturally. Because I'm sure she'll be worth it. You can't go around protecting yourself from heartbreak hermanita. No big payoff comes without a risk. If you shield yourself from your feelings, great things WILL pass you by. Allow your heart to tell your mind how you really feel about her. Let yourself love her Big-C. And enjoy it."

The younger brunette then sighed and sent her sister a small smile. "As for the secret girlfriend thing; I think you're right, that continuing to hide it will get increasingly difficult. No matter if you acknowledge your feelings or not. Because the more you two relax and fool around just the two of you, the more you guys are going to want to touch each others skin or hug each other in other settings. Maybe one of you will just do something intimately on instinct at work one day because you simply forget you're not in private. And maybe it would be best to just let it slip out by itself in a controlled matter before it happens on accident. Have you guys talked about this?"

The eldest brunette smiled gratefully at her sister. "I'm so thankful I've got you Jael. I need you to know that. You're so empathetic in this thing and you're proving to give great advice. Thank you. And no, we haven't talked about it. But we need to soon, because Joshua Halls called last night and asked me on a date, and I…"

"OH MY GOD BIG-C! Joshua Halls asked you on a date, that's…I don't even know what the right word is. But it's a HUGE thing!" Jael squealed in interruption.

Callie chuckled at her sister excitement. "Yeah, and it's also a problem because I'm possibly in love with someone else, remember" the older brunette deadpanned.

"Shit, you're right, sorry! I'll focus now. It's just Joshua Halls is HOT, hermanita. Don't tell me you haven't noticed" Jael said with a wink.

The eldest brunette laughed. "Oh I've noticed! But I've also noticed that he's not Arizona. She's the only one I want to be with Jael, and I don't know what to do now" Callie said with a serious face.

Jael sighed. "I know that's a difficult situation. But I think you need to talk to Arizona about it."

Callie sighed. "I know. The only reason for me not to go on a date with him would be if she and I went public with our relationship. A lot of people know that I'm ready to date again, and I know that Joshua will broadcast it if I turn him down because he basially asked me out on live TV at the Oscars.. Addison and Mark and mom and dad will wonder about what's going on if I say no, and the press will hunt me down and chase me without mercy. I wouldn't be able to spend any time with Arizona for weeks maybe even months."

"Then talk to her about that. Tell her, that you are caught here. That you don't want to go on a date with him, but that there's only one way you can avoid doing that. Unless she's willing to not seeing you for weeks" Jael spoke softly.

Callie sighed resignedly. "Yeah, we definitely need to talk about those things. And Joshua is really pushing for an answer, he's been texting all day, so I'll call Arizona tonight.

Jael pulled her sister in for a hug. "I know it seems a little messy with the whole Joshua thing, but I'm really happy for you Big-C. Being in love is so amazing and you deserve every second of it. I can't wait to meet the woman that is so important to my big sister. And you should really call me more and tell me things about her and you. Whenever she does or says something that makes you really happy, you should share that. And I'm only a phone call away. That doesn't just apply for the tough things."

Callie pulled back. "Thank you Jael. I'll call more. And you should come visit me again soon. We could do lunch or dinner or something with Arizona and you two could get to know each other. I'm sure you'll really hit it off."

"I don't doubt that at all" Jael said as she glanced at the clock. "Are you ready to kick some sandbag ass for another half hour before going home to the rest of the gang?" the youngest brunette asked as she stood up.

"Yeah, let's get it over with" Callie stated as she stood up herself.

* * *

Arizona and Barbara stood in the kitchen. Her mother was preparing dinner while Tim and her dad were in the workshop.

"Tell me about things with Callie, honey. I assume they're good?" Barbara questioned.

Arizona smiled dreamingly at her mother. "They are amazing. I wouldn't change a thing. When I'm with her, it's like nothing else matters. We started spending the night together three weeks ago" the blonde watched as her mother raised one of her brows at that "not like that mom, not yet. We just sleep next to each other. And it's the best feeling in the world waking up next to her, being able to watch her wake up and get to kiss her good morning. On the nights we're somehow forced to spend it apart I feel like a crucial part is missing, because she's not there with me."

Barbara Robbins smiled back at her daughter. "I like that you're this happy with her Arizona. You deserve happiness. And she's obviously good for you."

"I think I'm falling in love with her, mom" Arizona softly stated while fidgeting with her hands. Then she looked up at her mother. "And it's kind of scaring me. Because I've just started realizing, that I've probably never been in love before. Not if it feels like this. I've never cared this much about anyone."

The eldest Robbins put down the knife, she was currently using to chop up carrots, and approached her daughter. "That's a good thing, honey. It means you've found someone that's right for you. That fits into your life" she smiled at her daughter. "Are you going to tell your dad and Tim about her anytime soon then?"

Arizona shook her head. "No. I don't need them interfering with our relationship. I just want to enjoy being with Callie a little longer."

Barbara Robbins groaned and rolled her eyes. "Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you and your brother? Tim is hiding his relationship with Amanda Raleigh and you refuse to tell your own family about the woman you're in love with."

The youngest blonde's eyes widened. "You know about Tim and Amanda?"

"Of course I know. He's as subtle as an elephant in a porcelain shop not to mention a horrible liar. But I won't push him, just like I won't push you. Just don't make me keep any more secrets from your dad, because you know I hate doing that!" Barbara Robbins scolded her daughter a little.

Arizona pulled her mom in for a hug. "I know, and I'm really sorry. Thank you for doing this for me mom, you're great and I love you." At those words the eldest Robbins kissed her daughters blonde locks and tightened her hold on the other woman.

When Arizona's phone started ringing the two of them pulled back. The youngest blonde cast one glance at the caller-ID before taking off towards the stairs. "It's Callie, I'm going to take it in my room" Arizoan called back at her mom taking the stairs two steps at a time.

* * *

The brunette sat on her bed in Miami, nervously playing with the phone in her hand. She had to call Arizona, and while she always looked forward to talking to the blonde, she had no idea what to expect from this call. And she had a nagging feeling that she'd end up being disappointed somehow.

She found the blonde's number, dialed and held the phone to her ear while she nervously bit her lip.

"Callie, hey" a slightly out of breath Arizona said after a few rings.

"Hey you" Callie chuckled as a smile spread across her face. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I just ran up the stairs to my room when you called. I don't want my mom or anyone around when I talk to you. Even though she knows about us, I like our conversations to be private" Arizona shyly said.

Callie couldn't help but smile. "I know the feeling. I wouldn't want to talk to you in front of Jael either. I really miss you Arizona. I've gotten kind of used to having you near me all the time."

"I miss you too Callie. I know it's only been three days, and as great as it is seeing my family, I can't wait until I get to be with you again" Arizona breathed out.

"Me neither. But I actually called because I need to talk to you about something" the brunette cautiously stated.

"Oh yeah, what's up?" Arizona asked. She figured it had to be important for Callie to bring it up now.

Callie took in a deep breath. "Joshua Halls called me last night. He wants to go on a date with me."

The brunette was met with silence on the other end and Callie held her breath. But after ten seconds went by, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Arizona. Are you still there?" The brunette hesitantly asked.

The blonde's mind had gone blank. Someone wanted to take her secret girlfriend on a date. No not someone, one of the hottest, most coveted bachelors in the world wanted to take her secret girlfriend on a date. And Arizona knew that Callie couldn't say no. She shouldn't say no.

"Okay" the blonde finally breathed out.

Callie furrowed her brows. "Okay? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Arizona sighed. "You should go on the date with him Callie."

"Excuse me?! I, your girlfriend, should go on a date with another person?" the brunette whisper yelled. She felt anger and disappointment start to rise inside her.

"Callie" the blonde softly stated "You have no reason to turn him down."

"YOU could be a reason to turn him down, Arizona! A really good one I might add" Callie exclaimed, this time in a much more gentle voice, but still with an edge to it.

"But nobody knows that we're together Callie. And we both know the press isn't going to let you say no without explaining it to them. They'll stalk you forever if you do. I can't ask you to live with that" Arizona said. She felt like she was about to throw up. The thought of Callie on a date with someone else made her nauseous. And on top of that she could sense on the other woman's tone of voice, that she was mad.

"I could though. I COULD explain it to the press. It's been three weeks of being secret girlfriends and more than a month has passed since the Oscars Arizona. Things have been really good, amazing actually, with us. We could go public. Take a risk and tell the world that we're together. Go all in. Because I really like being with you, and I think I might be..." Callie said with hope and softness in her voice.

"No" came the instant reply from the blonde on the other end, cutting the brunette off and Callie felt her heart shatter. "We can't do that Callie" Arizona softly said. She knew that this would hurt the other woman, but she just wanted things to stay the way they were.

"YOU can't do that Arizona. I'm ready. But You'll rather have me going on a date with one of the world's hottest men, fully aware of the fact, that he will probably try to feel me up and kiss me by the end of the night, than you would be seen in public with me yourself?" Callie harshly asked. She knew it was partially unfair, but she still couldn't believe Arizona chose that solution.

"No, that's not… Of course I don't want him feeling you up or kissing you. I want to be the only one to do that. But in private, just you and me, well and my mom and Jael, knowing about it" Arizona sighed.

"I can't believe you're going to put me in this position! What reasons do you suggest I give him for not letting him feel me up or kissing me, huh? If I do this, if I go out with him, then it's a DATE Arizona. He likes me. A lot I think. You get that right?" the brunette angrily stated.

"I do get that Callie. And maybe you could tell him, that he couldn't do that. It being the first date and all. I don't know. And even though I really hate Joshua Halls right now, I can't blame him for really liking you, because you are pretty amazing…" the blonde started but was cut off.

"Don't give me that crap Arizona. Don't try to sweet talk me, because I can assure you it won't work so you shouldn't waste your energy. And how many dates should go by before I let him feel me up or kiss me, huh? Two dates? Three dates? Or are you now going to suggest that I'm going to be a total bitch at the first date, making sure he doesn't want anything to do with me afterwards? Because I can assure you that I sure as hell won't be doing that just to appease YOUR mind. It'll be gambling with my career if one of the most popular actors right now go out and let the world now that I'm a total bitch that's impossible to satisfy. If you stick by this, you can only blame youself for whatever happens on that date, because you are the one choosing this! I'm asking you one last time Arizona. Do you still think I should go on a date with him?" Callie angrily asked.

The blonde closed her eyes. She wished so bad that she was with Callie right now. The brunette was obviously very distressed about the whole thing and Arizona herself wanted nothing more than to take the other woman in her arms and feel her close to her. Even though the thought of Callie being wined, dined, charmed and kissed by a Hollywood super star was devastating to the blonde, she couldn't go public. "Yes. I do. But can we maybe talk about this some other time? I feel like this is getting out of hand. I feel like you're misunderstanding."

That set Callie off. "NOTHING is getting out of hand. YOU told me to go out on a date with another person, because you don't want to be known as my girlfriend, and I listed the possible consequences of that. One very likely one being, that one hot specimen of a man will try to kiss me. And you STILL want me to go. This conversation is OVER. I'll call Joshua right back and accept, because he's been bugging me for an answer all day. I'll see you Tuesday at work." With that Callie hung up.

The blonde felt tears prick her eyes. Not only was her girlfriend now going on a date, she was also pissed at Arizona and had just very clearly, albeit indirectly, cancelled their night together on Monday when they both returned from Easter break with their families. As a tear trickled down the blonde's cheek she got up, sucked in a breath and tried to field the image of Joshua Halls kissing her Callie from her mind.

 **And that's it for chapter 19, guys.**

 **I hope you liked it. Let me know what you thought :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	20. Chapter 20

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys!**

 **First and most importantly; major shout out and a huge thank you to 'srock' for making the awesome drawing I'm now using as a cover image for this story! You are great! :)**

 **Secondly I really hated the idea of letting all of you hanging until Thursday, I found a minute to upload chapter 20 now.** ** **Thank you for all of your reviews for chapter 19. I love that you're all so invested in this. You guys are amazing!****

 **To AnnaBir (and all of her fellow Icelanders really): Well if this amazing team from Iceland didn't suck you in to the world of football, then I'm sure nothing would! ;) Congratulations on your team's performance – they are such an awesome bunch and you guys have every reason to be proud of them! TILLYKKE MED KVARTFINALEPLADSEN! Det er for sindssygt! :O I'll be cheering on you guys on sunday for sure!  
**

 **To one of the guest reviewers: Of course Callie doesn't HAVE to say yes – nobody ever HAS to do anything, there is ALWAYS a choice…and the consequences of saying no was also listed: the press on her tail to no end (and trust me, when I say that, that WOULD happen – it's my area of expertise) and some of her friends and family questioning her about her reasons for turning him down. And Arizona clearly stated that she couldn't ask Callie to choose that solution. That only left the options of saying yes or going public. And going public was also out of the picture, leaving only…you guessed it; Callie saying yes to a date with Joshua Halls.**

 **To Fan of Grey's: Thank you. I'm really happy you feel that way!**

 **To Patpricka: Thank you for being here from the beginning and sticking with the story and me – I really appreciate that. I love all my silent readers – there is a lot of you out there. Thank you for taking the time to review though; it's always nice to know what people think to get a feel if I'm on the right track. A lot of the things you point out will sort of be addressed in this chapter. But I disagree with you about those falling outs being only Callie's 'fault'. Of course Callie has to pay attention and take Arizona's need for taking it slow into consideration. But in my opinion, that goes the other way around as well. Maybe sometimes Arizona needs to ask herself if she couldn't accommodate Callie's wishes a little more than she does.**

 **To Scampers0213: Very, very valid and awesome observations – you're going to like this chapter! ;)**

 **And now on to chapter 20. I have to warn you; I'm doing something with Mark in this chapter (it's right in the beginning actually) and there's a distinct possibility some of you will absolutely HATE it! I know that, and it's fair to have an opinion about it, but again; this is my story and like everything else it has a purpose. I really hope that I don't have all of you fleeing from the story after reading it. Please trust me :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :) By the way, this is one looooong chapter…**

CHAPTER 20:

Arizona was having the worst day. The worst week actually. It was Friday and since coming back from Easter break Monday evening she'd only seen Callie at work. She'd driven by Callie's house on her way home from the airport, but the brunette hadn't been there. Arizona knew that for a fact, because after knocking for ten minutes, she used the key, Callie had given her when they started spending the night at each other's places, to let herself in and leave the bouquet of flowers she'd picked up for her girlfriend. Four days later it was now very clear to Arizona that the brunette was avoiding her, and that really bothered Arizona. But what bothered her more was the sadness she could detect in the beautiful chocolate brown eyes whenever she got a quick glimpse of Callie.

The blonde found herself strolling through the studio and different sets whenever she wasn't shooting these past three days, hoping to get the chance to talk to the other woman alone. And like any other day this week that was exactly how she spent this two hour break she happened to have now. She knew that Callie was supposed to shoot a scene with April and Andrew Deluca today in set 1, so she decided to look for the brunette there first.

When she opened the door to the set she stopped dead in her tracks. She stared as Andrew Deluca very quickly removed his hand from Mark's rough cheek while the older man pulled his hand out from Andrew's other hand's soft grasp at the same time.

"Uh, sorry. I was just looking for Callie. I'll go now. And leave you to whatever it is you were doing. Okay. Bye" Arizona stammered with evident shock in her voice, before turning around and shutting the door behind her.

She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes resignedly. If she just walked in on what she thought she walked in on, then her relationship with Callie just got so much more complicated. She groaned. She didn't need that.

She was shaken from her musings as the door she was leaning against was opened and she fell backwards. Just before she hit the floor a strong arm caught her around the waist and she looked up into the panicked and sad blue eyes of Mark.

"Shit, I'm sorry Arizona. I didn't know you were leaning against the door. I thought you left" Andrew quickly apologized.

Mark guided Arizona back to her feet and kept his hand on her lower back until she got her balance back. The blonde woman smiled at the younger man. "It's okay Andrew. Nothing happened. And I was just taking a few moments to gather myself. Because I have to be honest with you guys; I don't know what I just walked in on, but I'm making a few conclusions in my head."

Mark gave her a small smile. "And I'm going to be honest with you; they're probably right." The man sighed. "Look Arizona. I…" Arizona watched as the blue eyes before her filled with tears and Andrew stepped a little closer to Mark. "Do you want to talk about this? I totally understand if you don't want to, but I also understand if you have a few questions. And I'll answer whatever you ask me." Arizona continued to look at Mark. A few tears had now escaped his eyes and were making their way slowly down his cheeks. "No matter what you choose though, I beg you not to tell anyone about us. Please. I know it's a big favor to ask, especially because of your friendship with Callie, but we need to do this at our own pace."

The blonde woman swallowed. Even though Mark didn't realize it, she knew exactly how he felt. And she felt more empathy and cohesion with Mark in that moment, than ever before. "I'm not going to tell anyone." Arizona watched as Mark sighed in relief. "I have to say, I'm really surprised though. I would have never ever guessed the two of you were together. And I really only have one question I need an answer to" she paused momentarily. Mark nodded his head for her to go on. "I'm assuming that Andrew was the missing piece to the puzzle in regards of your divorce from Callie, and I need you to honestly tell me if you ever cheated on her with him?" the blonde woman asked Mark as she pointed to Andrew.

"NO. Of course not. I would never do that to Callie, Arizona. But you're right. He kind of is the missing piece. Shortly after Andrew joined the cast more than a year and a half ago, we started hanging out a lot after work. And I don't know how or why, but slowly I just started feeling more and more distanced from Callie and more and more drawn to Andrew. It was like she wasn't enough anymore, Arizona. And I fought really hard to get the spark back in my marriage with Callie, because I really wanted her to be it for me. I love her. But no matter what I didn't succeed. She just wasn't it, you know. And I had to accept that. When I asked her for divorce, Andrew didn't even know how I felt. And I didn't make any sort of move on him until months later. I was so confused about everything going on. Please believe that" Mark answered sincerely. Tears were now freely flowing down his face and the blonde felt really bad for her screen-partner. Andrew had reached out and put his hand on Mark's shoulder for support. By the softness of the touch, there was no doubt in Arizona's mind that the younger man cared deeply for Mark.

Arizona granted Mark a smile. "Of course I believe you. I trust you, Mark. I know you wouldn't lie to me. And I'm really happy to hear that. Because that would have put me in an awful position. Well worse than it already is I might add! And I really think you need to tell Callie, Mark. She should hear this from you. I'm sure she'll understand. Anyway, I'm going to go now. Leave you two alone. You should be more careful in the future though. I mean if you don't want to be caught by anyone."

Mark engulfed Arizona in a long, tight hug. "Thank you blondie. I can't even begin to tell you what this means to me. I really owe you big time."

The blonde pulled back, smiled at the two men and made her way to the door. This was such a mess. As she closed the door behind her, she spotted Teddy walking towards her.

"Hey, there you are! I've been looking all over for you" the honey-blonde said with a smile. "Addison and I wanted to know if you're free for dinner tonight at our place?"

Arizona sighed and smiled in return. A night with her friend and her friend's fiancé was just what she needed. "Oh, I totally am! That sounds really nice. Thank you"

"Great" Teddy exclaimed. "And Callie is going to be there as well, so it'll be a girls' night, just like on your birthday."

The blonde inhaled sharply. "Awesome. I can't wait" she spoke as she sent Teddy her best fake smile. That was so NOT what she needed.

Teddy lopped her arm through Arizona's. "Me neither. Want to grab a coffee with me?"

Arizona nodded her head. "Lead the way."

* * *

That night Arizona was standing outside Teddy and Addison's apartment. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Seconds later it was opened and a smiling Teddy greeted her. "Hey you. Come on in. Dinner is almost ready. Addi and Callie are in the kitchen."

The blonde stepped inside and took of her jacket. Then she made her way to the kitchen where Addison and Callie were talking and laughing. The two women looked up, when Arizona entered the room. The red head smiled brightly at Arizona and walked over to greet her. "Arizona, hi. I'm so glad you could make it."

Arizona smiled at Addison. "Thank you for inviting me." The blonde looked at Callie, who moved from her spot leaning against the counter and approached the blonde. Before Arizona knew what was happening, Callie was hugging her. The blonde threw her arms around the brunette and couldn't help but inhale the scent of the other woman. She hadn't been this close to Callie for nine days and she really missed her.

All too soon though, the brunette pulled back, and Arizona saw the sheen of tears in chocolate brown eyes. Callie quickly pulled herself together. "Hey. Thank you for not leaving me alone with the horny fiancées" the brunette smirked as she glanced over her shoulder at Addison.

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah, I figured that would be mean!" Arizona couldn't help herself, as she reached out and slowly trailed her hand down Callie's arm out of Addison's sight.

The blonde quickly pulled it back when the red head announced that dinner was ready.

Callie and Arizona made their way to the table and sat down next to each other leaving Addison to sit across from Callie and Teddy to sit across from Arizona.

"This is really nice. Thank you for coming guys. It means a lot to us that you're both here. And get along so well. You are our best friends and maids of honor after all" Teddy said with a big smile.

The brunette smiled back. "Well, I'm really only here because of the free meal" Callie deadpanned.

Addison chuckled. "Yeah, I know you're only friends with me because of my impeccable cooking skills."

Callie laughed. "Oh please, I can find my own way around a kitchen. I'm friends with you because you're my boss and I want to keep my job" the brunette stated with a serious, yet playful, face.

Addison pouted at that. "That's just mean, Callie."

Teddy leaned over and placed a kiss on the red head's cheek. "Don't be sad. I love you. That should be enough" the honey-blonde winked at her fiancé "but speaking of free meals Callie, are you ready for tomorrow?"

Callie felt herself paling a little at the question and glanced at Arizona out of the corner of her eyes. The blonde was looking at her intensely. "What's happening tomorrow?" the blonde asked although she had a feeling she already knew.

The brunette turned and looked straight at the blonde woman. "Tomorrow is my date with Joshua Halls. He's picking me up at noon."

Callie felt bad as she watched sadness appear in the blonde's blue eyes. "Really? That's nice. You're probably going to have a lot of fun. I bet someone like him will organize something mind blowing" Arizona said, trying desperately to keep a straight face.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know what to expect."

"Well I for one can't wait to hear all about it" Addison said with a smile. "But now let's focus on this meal."

* * *

Callie and Arizona left the apartment side by side with one last smile back at Addison and Teddy. The dinner had been nice albeit a little uncomfortable for the feuding girlfriends. It didn't seem like Addison and Teddy noticed anything though. Arizona watched as Callie's smile faltered the second they were out of their friends' eyesight.

"Callie?" Arizona asked carefully once they were out of earshot.

"What, Arizona?" came a rough reply from the brunette.

The blonde grabbed Callie's arm and stopped her from walking any further. "Can we please talk? About us and…well your date."

The brunette glanced around the empty hallway. "You want to talk about it here?" Callie harshly questioned.

"I would rather talk somewhere else, but you have been avoiding me like the plague Callie. What the hell am I supposed to do?" Arizona questioned with a shaking voice.

Callie sighed. "Fine! We'll go to your apartment."

Arizona looked at the other woman. The sadness in her eyes was even more present in this moment than it had been during any other time she'd seen the brunette in the last four days. And it made the blonde anxious. "We can go to your house too. It's not a problem for me."

The brunette looked straight into the cerulean blue eyes before saying with a little crack to her voice. "I think we should go to your apartment. I think I would be more comfortable having this conversation at your place." Then the brunette quickly pulled herself together. "Let's go."

Arizona stood frozen for a few seconds. What did Callie mean by that? The blonde felt her heart hammering away inside her chest and she felt like it could just stop beating at any moment.

* * *

Arizona couldn't help but stall a little as she and Callie walked to her apartment. She really wanted to talk to the brunette, but at the same time she dreaded this conversation a lot. Why was Callie so set to have this conversation at the blonde's place?

"Come in" the blonde softly said as she opened the door for Callie to walk through. Arizona followed the brunette inside, and threw her purse and keys on the table by the door. She then took of her jacket and shoes as Callie stood nervously off to the side.

"You don't even want to take off your jacket or anything?" Arizona asked lowly.

Callie sighed. "Arizona…I" the brunette stopped. She had no idea how to start this conversation.

The blonde stepped a little closer to the other woman. "I've missed you. I need to tell you that before we talk. I want you to know that."

Callie granted Arizona a small smile. "I miss you too."

The brunette's use of present tense didn't go unnoticed by Arizona and the blonde suddenly felt very nervous. "Callie…?" the blonde carefully asked.

The brunette's face suddenly showed infinite fatigue. "I've been thinking Arizona. And I'm really sorry, but I…" Callie drew in a breath and Arizona watched mesmerizing brown eyes brim with tears.

The blonde reached out to wipe away one that made its way down a flawless caramel cheek, but the brunette pulled back before Arizona's hand made contact with the soft skin. "Callie?" the blonde questioned again. She had a feeling she knew what was coming, and she knew she needed and wanted to stop it, she just didn't know if she could.

"I think we both need to consider this, Arizona. Us. Our relationship. It's like every little step is a fight, and it is almost exclusively centered on the fact that you're not ready for anything. Ever. It's been four months since I kissed you the first time, and I for one am exhausted! I don't ever want to pressure you into anything, but I'm going on a date tomorrow with someone else because you won't even consider telling anyone about you and me. That's insane. I don't want to go on a date with anyone but you! And I can't even do that" Callie softly spoke as tears were making their way down her cheeks.

"I'm giving you one more chance to stop me from going on the date with Joshua tomorrow. Tell me that you know, that you'll be ready to be with me in public in the future. It doesn't have to be tomorrow or even a month from now, but I need to know that you'll be ready someday. I need to know our relationship is going somewhere. Promise me, that I'll get to walk the red carpet with your hand in mine some time, and I'll cancel the date. That's all you have to do. I'll give him some excuse, and I'll live with the press watching my every move for a while if I have to. But I need to know I'm doing it for a reason. You need to give me that, Arizona. Please." Callie was begging, and she knew it. But these were desperate times and they called for desperate measures.

Arizona had tears streaming down her own cheeks now. The ball was in her court. All she needed to do was confirm to Callie that they had a future together. A future that included public dating and red carpet events by each other's sides. If she did that, Callie's date with Joshua would no longer be an issue and they could go back to how things were.

A loud sob left the blonde. "I can't Callie. I'm so sorry." As soon as the words were out, Arizona felt like she couldn't breathe.

Callie's squeezed her eyes shut for a second. She somehow knew that was how this was going to go. But she still felt like her heart was being pierced with a thousand needles. She opened her eyes again and looked at Arizona. From the dejection swimming around in blue orbs, Callie knew that the blonde was very much aware of what was coming now. "Thank you for being honest with me. And I'm really sorry, but then I…" Callie choked on her words and an involuntary sob left her mouth. "…then I can't be with you anymore."

At that moment Arizona was sure her heart stopped beating. Suddenly everything hurt, but at the same time she felt numb. "No Calliope! Please! Don't do this! Don't! I…" the blonde paused. 'Just say it' she thought to herself. Tell her how you feel about her.

Callie was observing the blonde intensely. The blue eyes conveyed every feeling possible in that moment and the brunette kind of knew what Arizona was struggling to say. But if anything was going to change, she needed to hear the words.

"Please don't leave me" Arizona pleaded with a shaking voice.

Callie sighed and a fresh wave of tears hit her. "I have to Arizona. I want to give you everything. I want to make you happy. I do. But I need to think about me too. And I need to know that this is going somewhere. That I'm not just pastime until some guy comes along and sweeps you off your feet right in front of me. Because I can't put myself through that, Arizona."

The blonde now sobbed uncontrollably and it took everything in Callie to not just take her words back and console the crying blonde. "I'm so sorry Arizona. I really wished that things were different." The brunette took in a deep breath. "I'm going to go now or else I won't be able to leave. I'll see you at work on Monday." With that Callie made her way to the door.

"Please stay." The muffled words from the devastated blonde made the brunette stop by the door.

"I can't, Arizona" Callie stated with a shaking voice before opening the door and leaving the blonde.

* * *

Arizona was knocking furiously at the door. Her tears had slowed but hadn't stopped. She was heartbroken and she had no idea what to do. She'd been knocking for five minutes and nobody had answered. She was starting to resign to the fact that she wouldn't be let in. But just as she considered leaving, the door was yanked open and a very disheveled Addison appeared.

The blonde took in the red head's state. She had on a very short robe that plunged deeply on the front and Arizona made a mental bet with herself, that the other woman was naked underneath. Her hair was a mess, her lips were swollen and she had a fresh hickey on her chest.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Addison. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I'm going to leave" Arizona choked out and made a move to walk back down the hallway.

"Arizona?" A rumbled Teddy asked as she appeared behind Addison securing her own robe around her body.

Arizona's tears were back in full force at the sight of her friend. "Teddy" she choked out.

The honey-blonde stepped past her lover and caught Arizona in a hug before the blonde collapsed in a heap on the floor. "Oh my God, what's happened Arizona?" Teddy worriedly asked, as she caressed her friends' back.

Arizona just sobbed onto the honey-blonde's shoulder in reply as she clung to her. Teddy looked at Addison with concern.

The red head stepped forward. "Arizona, please come inside and tell us what's going on. You've got us really worried" Addison said as she put a hand on the blonde woman's shoulder.

Arizona reluctantly released Teddy and made her way in to the apartment as she hiccupped from all the crying. She walked straight to the couch and plopped down. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks and her breathing was strained.

Teddy came and sat down next to her and placed a hand on the blonde's knee and Addison sat down at the coffee table in front of Arizona. The two women shared a look as their guest just sat there staring off into space.

"Ariz…" Teddy started with a loving voice, but was cut off by the blonde.

"I'm in love with Callie. But I couldn't even tell her that. And I think she might be in love with me too. But tonight after the dinner, she left me because I'm not ready to tell people about our relationship" Arizona choked out before starting to sob again.

Teddy's jaw dropped and she looked at her fiancé who had a really confused yet surprised look on her face.

"What? I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Addison asked with wide eyes.

"I'm in love with Callie. But I couldn't…" the blonde woman started again but was cut off by Addison.

"I heard you the first time, I'm just really confused. You're telling us that Callie and you were having a thing?" the red head asked.

Arizona looked at Addison with fire in her sad, tear filled eyes. "We weren't 'having a thing' Addison. We were girlfriends. It's serious. Or WAS serious I guess…" the blonde trailed off clearly hurt.

Teddy soothingly caressed her friend's jean clad thigh, while she sent her fiancé a pointed look. "She didn't mean it like that Arizona. We're just both really surprised I guess. We didn't even know any of you were into women."

Arizona turned her angry and sad blue eyes at her honey-blonde friend. "YOU didn't know you were 'into women' until you met Addison. I at least thought you would understand this, Teddy. Neither of us has been with a woman before, and I think it's safe to say, that we deal with it in VERY different ways. Which is why I'm here now. Being a total mess. Hoping for some sort of understanding or guidance from my friends" The blonde exclaimed.

Addison exhaled loudly as she ran her hand through her hair. It was very clear that her and her lover weren't handling this very well. "Okay. I think we need to just take a break and start over. I'm sorry we're so bad at this Arizona. It's not our intention to diminish what you and Callie had or insult you in any way. We're here for you. Tell us everything from the beginning, and we'll help you as best as we can" the red head softly said.

Arizona looked at her lap for a second and sighed. Teddy sent her fiancé a loving and grateful look and mouthed a 'thank you' before turning her attention back to her heartbroken friend.

Arizona started fumbling with her hands. "Well, as you know we had gotten really close friends really fast. And then at the Christmas party we kind of had a moment and she kissed me. And I freaked out. Like ran-from-the-party-and-avoided-her-until-I-flew-to-Georgia-for-Christmas freaked out."

"The Christmas party? But that's four months ago. Have you guys been together for four months?" Addison asked softly.

Arizona shook her head. "No. Because like I said, I ran full speed as far away from her as I could. Even though I really liked the kiss! And her. I ignored all of her text messages and calls during Christmas, which was why she started calling you on the 22nd Addison. Naturally she was worried about me. And she deserved so much better than how I was treating her back then" the blonde said as she gave a small smile to the red head.

"Then after New Year's we kind of decided to just forget about the whole thing and continue or friendship. But that didn't work at all. It was really awkward and we didn't seem to click at all anymore. And then she got nominated for an Academy Award. And you brought Erica back" Arizona said and bit her lower lip as she looked at the red head.

"And you got jealous" Addison concluded.

Arizona smiled a little and shrugged her shoulder. "I think I did. Kind of. I couldn't help but to really resent Erica. She left! And it didn't seem like she'd worried about Callie at all for seven months. But she still got to come back here and stand next to Callie on a day she's going to remember forever. That should have been me. I wanted it to be me. And standing there admiring her, I couldn't help but also want to kiss her again. So later that night I went to her house to tell her that. To admit to her, that I liked kissing her too. And we decided to explore it casually. Together" the blonde spoke and smiled a little at the memory.

Arizona then turned her attention to Teddy. "The next day was the day you told me you found the engagement ring. You went totally ballistic at me for not paying attention but spending my time ogling Nathan, remember?"

The honey-blonde chuckled. "Yeah I remember. You we're the worst friend that day! But you weren't ogling Nathan, were you?"

"No" Arizona shook her head. "I was ogling Callie – who was standing next to Nathan. I finally let myself notice how beautiful she really is. And I still feel like I can't ever look at her enough. Then I freaked out and started questioning it all when she was going to your place for dinner the night after that. Just because I didn't get to spend any time with her alone that day, I suddenly doubted again if I could be with her. I was such an idiot. But my mom talked some sense in to me."

"You texted her that night, didn't you? She got a text and this exceptional smile just spread across her face even though she clearly tried to suppress it. I knew instantly that it was from someone special. But she told me some lie about it being from Rei. I figured she would tell me at her own pace" Addison softly said as a look of hurt shot across her face.

Arizona reached out and took the red head's hand. "Please don't be mad at her Addison. It's not her fault. I'm sure she's been dying to tell you, but I've kept her from that. I kind of told her very directly that I didn't want Teddy to know, and I'm sure that prevented her from telling you. She knows you can keep a secret, but she also knows how much of a freak out it would have released from me, if you'd let it slip and I found out. I don't think she was willing to take that chance. There were enough freak outs to deal with already. I'm sorry."

"Why wouldn't you want me to know?" Teddy asked. Now she was the one with the hurt look.

Arizona turned to the other woman and sent her a small smile. "I love you Teddy, I do! You're an awesome friend, the best I've got actually. But I just had this feeling that you'd be all excited and wanted to have us over for dinner or something like that, and I didn't need that. I wasn't ready for that. I needed peace and quiet and I needed to become familiar with being with Callie. Who is a woman. I'm sure you know how life altering it is to suddenly be attracted to a woman. It's like you're a whole new person all of a sudden" the blonde gently stated.

Teddy sent her friend a sympathetic smile and looked briefly at her fiancé. "Yeah, I'm very familiar with that. And you're probably right; I would have been all excited" the honey-blonde chuckled and was joined by the two other women.

Arizona sighed. "Things were really good. We hung out a lot and kissed a lot, more and more as the days passed. But then came my birthday. And I didn't tell her about that. And she got really mad at me. And after we talked it out, she proceeded to arrange the most perfect evening ever. She respected the fact that I wasn't ready to do couply things, and made my birthday all about friendship. It was perfect."

Teddy smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like her. She's a really considerate person. And I for one will love you forever for wanting a birthday without couply things!" the honey-blonde deadpanned.

The blonde chuckled a little. "Yeah, I know. Adele with VIP treatment was FUN! And for what it's worth, I'm still happy I got to share it with you, Teddy" Arizona said with a smile.

The blonde sighed. "Then things were really, really good again. I was so happy to just be with her. But then the day before the Oscars, she wanted to label it all of a sudden. She didn't really ask that anything should change, she just wanted us to be together exclusively. And of course I freaked out and ran again. But then you proposed to Teddy, Addison. And your words just really hit a nerve. I decided right then and there, that I needed to stop being afraid. So I went to her house the next day to tell her that I wanted to be with her too. I found Mark's shoes at the door. He was apparently in her bed snoozing away. And that made me doubt the whole thing a little again. But she didn't hesitate to throw him out despite their obvious hangovers. And after she got a few hours of extra sleep, we talked, decided to be together exclusively, and spent the entire day together on the couch. It was such a great day. Then three weeks ago we agreed on being girlfriends one morning, and I was ecstatic. The mere thought of it had freaked me out just months earlier, but all of a sudden it just felt so perfect saying it" the blonde smiled and the other two women noticed that she got a little twinkle back in her eyes.

"That sounds ni…Wait, one morning? You slept together?" Addison asked.

Arizona blushed a little at the question. "No. Not the way you think anyway. We've slept in the same bed a lot of times, but we haven't had sex. Yet! We've been touching a lot of things lately though. The first and only time Callie ever freaked out just a little bit about us was actually the first time I caressed her breast. But she got over that pretty fast" the blonde spoke with a little nostalgic in her eyes.

Addison and Teddy smiled at each other as Arizona giggled a little. Then suddenly the woman turned serious and her eyes got glossy once again. "Then during Easter she called me and told me that Joshua had asked her out. I knew that if she said no to go on the date with him, then she would be hunted by the press and paparazzi, who no doubt all wanted to find out the reason for her decline. Because he kind of asked her out on live TV at the Oscars. And they are both super stars. She had to say yes. And I told her that. Then she said that there was another option. We could go public with our relationship. She wanted to tell the world, that she's with me, but I wasn't ready for that. And so I told her no" the blonde wiped a few tears from her eyes "and then last night she asked me to tell her, that I'd be ready for a public relationship in the future. But I couldn't even promise her that. And then she said that she couldn't be with me anymore. Because she needs to know that it's going somewhere. And now she's single and tomorrow she's going on what will probably be a wonderful date with Joshua Halls" Arizona finished before bursting into tears once again.

Teddy put her arm around the blonde and hugged her close to her body. "I'm so sorry Arizona. But you don't even know if she'll like Joshua. Maybe it'll be a horrible date."

Arizona shook her head. "It won't" she choked out. "They hung out together at an Oscar afterparty, and if they hadn't clicked he wouldn't have asked her out. They're going to have fun together."

Addison leaned forward a little. "Do you want me to go talk to her, Arizona? Tell her to maybe slow down a little bit. It seems like she kind of just throws things at you, and expect you to adapt to them in an instant. And it's perfectly understandable that you need a little time. Those are giant events. They need to be processed."

The blonde shook her head. "No, you don't have to do that. And I know that it might seem like she does that, but this time it's not wrong of her. She now has to go on a date with someone else, and to her it doesn't seem like I care enough about her to prevent that. But I do, Addison. I really do. She was willing to bend for me, but I just flat out denied doing it for her" Arizona sighed before smirking a little. "And you should lean back by the way, because I can see all the way down your robe."

Addison quickly pulled back and hugged the robe closer to her body. Arizona chuckled and turned to Teddy. "I see you're quite the beast in the bedroom Teddy. You like to leave your mark!"

The honey-blonde blushed at her friend's words. "I can't really help it. At least now I've learned not to do it in visible places" Teddy stated as she smiled at Addison. Then she turned her attention back to Arizona. "What do you need from me? I want to help you. I really hate to see you like this."

The blonde resignedly shook her head. "I don't know." She then sighed loudly. "Can I maybe stay here tonight? I don't really want to go home again, but I really just want to curl up in a bed."

Teddy softly caressed her friend's lower back. "Of course. You can always stay here."

"I'll go make up the guest bed" Addison stated and rose from her seat on the coffee table. On her way to the guest bedroom she paused and turned around. "Do you think I should go check on her Arizona? Is she okay?"

Tears welled in blue eyes. "I think I need to be the one to tell her, that you guys know. I'll do it tomorrow or Sunday. And I'll let you know when, because I do think she needs someone to talk to."

Addison nodded her head in understanding and continued to the guest bedroom.

* * *

Arizona locked herself in to the now very familiar house. She knew, that what she was doing was kind of wrong and slightly stalkerish, but she needed to talk to Callie. And she needed to do it today. She breathed in the scent of Callie. The unique blend of sunshine and roses lingered all over the gorgeous home. Arizona felt tears rise in her eyes at the familiarity of it.

The blonde made her way to the living room. On the coffee table stood the bouquet of flowers, she'd delivered in Callie's home five days ago. Arizona took it as a good sign, that the brunette hadn't thrown them out the second she saw them or even after breaking up with the blonde last night. Arizona ever so slowly traced her finger along one of the tulip petals. The bouquet was made of white tulips and light red carnations symbolizing apologies and admiration.

The blonde sighed and sat down on the couch. She looked at her phone. It was 8.13 pm. Arizona had no idea what the date included, but she figured that if Joshua had picked Callie up at noon, the brunette probably wouldn't be home late. She leaned back and turned on the TV knowing she needed a distraction until Callie got back.

Arizona sat unmoving on the couch as some old movie played across the TV. The blonde was really nervous about her coming encounter with Callie. She had no idea how the brunette would react to the blonde's presence in her home. As the movie finished the clock hit 10 pm. The blonde turned off the TV, sighed and leaned her head on the back of the couch. She was getting kind of restless and impatient.

Then she stood up and moved to the wall packed with pictures. She studied the gorgeous brunette on each of the pictures. She was really beautiful when she was younger, but it was clear that she'd really embraced her beauty as the years went by. And that made her look absolutely stunning in the newer pictures.

Arizona then made her way to the brunette's bookshelf. Callie obviously had a very broad taste. Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' stood side by side with Stephen King's 'Carrie' and Miguel de Cervantes' 'Don Quixote'.

The blonde pulled out 'Shakespeare's Sonnets' and started slowly flipping through it. It was hard to read as the only light in the room was the light coming from the street outside. As she made it to Sonnet 116 tears once again filled her blue eyes. There, sitting next to one of the greatest and most famous love sonnets, was copies of the three pictures, her and Callie took when they spend the night together for the first time.

Arizona softly traced the outline of the brunette's face on the one where the two of them were kissing. The blonde's heart ached at the sight. It's been ten days since she last kissed Callie. And even though she didn't want to think about it, it was quite possible that she never got to do it again. In that moment Arizona resigned to praying. Callie had to take her back. Because Arizona couldn't bear the thought of the brunette being totally done with her.

Arizona was pulled out of her funk as she heard a car door slam and muffled voices outside the front door. She put the book back and once again took a seat on the couch. The blonde glanced at the time on her phone. It was 20 minutes past midnight. That was one long date. It had to have been good. And then it suddenly hit Arizona; what if Callie invited Joshua inside? How would she ever justify being there. Callie alone she could deal with, even if the brunette decided to throw her out before even talking to her. But if Callie AND Joshua came through that door in a minute then she had nothing. No excuse whatsoever.

* * *

Callie stopped in front of her door and played with her keys. She looked at the man before her. He had nice, warm eyes and she had really enjoyed herself on the date. Granted it had been a little much, going on for 12 hours, but it had been fun. "Thank you for a really wonderful date, Joshua. I had a really good time tonight."

Joshua smiled at her and reached out to take a hold of her hand. "Me too, Callie. And thank you for agreeing to go. I know I kind of forced you into it."

The brunette chuckled. "Yeah I could hardly say no after the stunt you pulled at the Oscars." Callie smiled at the man. "But I'm kind of glad I couldn't. It was really fun. Especially the last part of the date. The rest was good too, don't get me wrong, but dancing was fun."

Joshua smiled back. "I'm really happy to hear that you had fun. I did too. Dancing is always fun." The man then stepped closer to Callie. "But personally I really liked the part where we ate. I really enjoyed getting to know you. And I hope your sisters will be forever grateful to you for my notes to them" he winked at Callie.

The brunette chuckled. "Oh they will. Believe me. And they are going to take you up on the offer of a meet and greet, so be prepared for the 'Torres Tornadoes' to hit you, because those three will be out of control."

"If they are anything like you I can easily deal with it" Joshua softly said before leaning in and softly connecting his lips with Callie's.

The brunette held her breath at first as slightly rough lips connected with her own in a soft, lingering peck. Soon she felt herself relax though and she couldn't help but kiss Joshua back. When he pulled away from her, Joshua looked straight into her eyes for a minute before stating "about that second date…"

* * *

Arizona was relieved when she heard a car door slam, an engine starting, and the sound of a car driving off. At least that meant that Joshua wouldn't be coming through the front door with the brunette. Then keys were put in the lock and the door opened. Arizona heard Callie exhale loudly and she had no idea if that was a happy sigh or an annoyed sigh. Then shoes were obviously kicked off and the silhouette of Callie appeared in the doorway. She was standing with her side turned to the blonde and Arizona was convinced the brunette hadn't noticed her presence.

"Good date?" the blonde asked in a whisper, but it sounded like she was yelling as her words cut through the silent house.

Callie jumped a little, startled at the presence of another person in her home. "Holy mother of…" she said as she moved to turn on the light. When she hit the switch, the room lit up and a clearly very worn out blonde appeared on her couch. "What are you doing here?" the brunette asked the blonde in a tone that was very hard to decipher.

Arizona looked at Callie. She looked incredible. Her hair was in a messy, braided updo and she wore a tight, pink, one shoulder dress that was somehow both fancy and casual. "Good date?" the blonde asked again, this time with clear emotion in her voice.

Callie sighed and walked to the couch. She wordlessly sat down next to Arizona but with a good foot of space between them. "It was actually. He really went all out" the brunette replied as she eyed the blonde.

"Yeah? What did you do?" Arizona cautiously asked.

"We flew in a hot air balloon across LA. Then we went to the building site of 'The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' and got a private tour and detailed explanation of the plans. We ate dinner at the rooftop of this deserted building with a perfect view of the city. The food was delivered from 'Norah' in West Hollywood and it was amazing. Lastly he took me swing dancing at 'Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club'. They opened the club just for us. He's surprisingly good at dancing. Apparently his mother forced him to do all kinds of dance lesson when he was younger" Callie neutrally listed the events of the date.

"Swing dancing, really?" the blonde made a face.

"Arizona" Callie warned as she moved to get up from the couch.

The blonde reached out and put her hand on the other woman's thigh, stopping her from leaving her seat. "I'm sorry, I just…I wouldn't have picked that."

"Well I happened to really like it. I think he knew that, which is why he arranged it" Callie replied a bit harshly.

Arizona closed her eyes briefly. Callie liked the date. Then she opened them again and looked straight at the stunning, miraculous woman next to her. "Did he kiss you?" she whispered.

So many motions twirled around in the chocolate brown eyes before her. "Yes he did" Callie softly spoke.

Arizona felt tears fill her eyes and spill over in a matter of seconds. "Are you going on a second date with him?" the blonde choked out.

Callie gave Arizona a small smile. "No, I'm not."

The blonde looked intensely at the brunette. "Why not? You obviously enjoyed the date. He kissed you, so he must have enjoyed it as well."

The brunette sighed and rose from the couch. She started slowly pacing the room on the other side of the coffee table for a minute. Suddenly she stopped and looked straight at Arizona. "I did enjoy myself. And so did he. And he's a nice guy. Like really nice. Not the least bit full of himself or anything. We talked and laughed together like we've known each other for years."

"He's perfect" Arizona softly said as she sniffled.

Callie moved back to the couch and sat down on her knees in front of the blonde. "He's not. Because he isn't you, Arizona! YOU are perfect. This amazing guy created a perfect date experience for me, and all day I've just wanted to rip my heart from my chest and throw it away. Because no matter how hard I try, or how amazing that date was, I can't shake you. Not from my heart and not from my thoughts. I don't even know if I want to. And I don't know what to do. I want to be with you so bad Arizona. But you couldn't even tell me that you wanted to go public with me, ever. And I know I can't live with the way things were forever. I need to know there are progress and a future in this" Callie sighed and gestured between the two of them.

Arizona looked at the brunette. Tears had welled in brown eyes as well. "I told Teddy and Addison about us."

Callie furrowed her brows in surprise at that. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding her voice. "When?" she breathed out as a tear made it's way down her cheek.

The blonde reached out and caressed a naked caramel shoulder. She smiled a little as goosebumps instantly formed on the other woman's skin. "Last night. After you left my apartment I drove straight there. I didn't want to bother my mom at that hour, and I really needed a shoulder to cry on. Because I was miserable Callie. I interrupted what was clearly some very passionate sex judging by the hickeys on Addison, but they couldn't really send me away again when I was in that state. They were so worried about what had happened to turn me into such a sobbing mess. And so I told them everything."

Callie reached up and grabbed the ivory hand caressing her shoulder. "What did they say?" the brunette gently asked.

"Well they were naturally very surprised. Then they listened as I recounted our whole relationship. Asked if there was anything they could do for me. Then they made up the guest bed for me, and Teddy stayed there until I exhausted myself from crying. When I got up this morning, Addison made the most amazing breakfast and we talked some more. They're both very fond of the idea of you and me together. Then I decided to come here tonight to tell you, I'd told them. Because you needed to know. I have no idea what I would have done, if you'd invited Joshua in by the way" Arizona said the last part in a whisper so low, that Callie almost couldn't hear it.

"Arizona, I could never do that. I broke it off with you yesterday. What we had meant something to me. I wouldn't just jump into bed with the first person that offered themselves to me. Not that Joshua did. He was very respectful" the brunette softly stated.

The blonde really looked at Callie, and was instantly sucked in by the brown eyes before her. She couldn't help herself as she leaned forward and connected her lips with Callie's. The kiss was soft and gentle. The blonde pulled back just a fraction and kept her eyes closed. "I don't want to stand off to the side and watch as you go on dates with hot guys. Or hot girls for that matter. I want you back, Callie. I want to be the one taking you on amazing dates. Telling Teddy and Addison went really well and it was surprisingly easy. And I want to gradually tell more people. But I can't just take your hand and stroll through downtown tomorrow. That's too much. But I really want you back, Callie. Please." Arizona begged while she sniffled.

The heartfelt words were whispered against plump lips and Callie could see the distress and desperation radiate of the other woman. "Arizona, please look at me" the brunette choked out.

Arizona opened her eyes and was met with understanding, loving and teary brown orbs. "I would never ask you to do that. We would need to tell our families first. Then maybe some of our friends, I definitely would have to tell Mark, and then we could tell the world somehow. We would work it out together" Callie spoke.

The blonde paled a little at the mentioning of Mark. She'd completely forgotten what she walked in on yesterday, until this very moment. Her change in mood didn't go unnoticed by the brunette. "Is that not okay? You wouldn't like doing that?" Callie hesitantly asked.

Arizona nodded her head and smiled. "I would. I really would. And thank you for not agreeing to a second date with Joshua."

The brunette smiled at the blonde. "Actually he was the one who didn't want a second date."

"What? Why? He's a moron. Who wouldn't want to go on a second date with you? And he kissed you!" the blonde exclaimed with a huff.

Callie chuckled. "Hey, we're happy about the no-second-date-thing, remember. And it's not that the kiss wasn't good" Arizona winced at the thought of Callie and Joshua kissing "but I just don't think that either of us got the feeling that it could evolve into something more in a romantic way. But we could no doubt be really good friends. We might go swing dancing again sometime" the brunette said.

Arizona looked at Callie with a serious face. "Erhm, no!"

The brunette pulled back a little and furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"No, you don't get to go swing dancing with him. You dated him, Callie. And I know you don't anymore. But you don't get to go swing dancing with an ex-date. He kissed you!" the blonde said as tears again rose in her eyes.

Callie reached out and caressed an ivory cheek. "Hey. I don't have plans of going tomorrow or anything. We're talking way out in the future. And he's not a threat to you in any way. If he had wanted a second date, I would have said no. Because I couldn't do it Arizona. I want to be with you! And you have no idea how happy it made me, that you told Teddy and Addison. It's a step on the way. That's all I asked yesterday. I'm really sorry I pushed you, but I just didn't know what to do. I really didn't want to go on that date, and the only way I could see it not happening was if we went public. I just lost it when you flat out denied that. You didn't even take a moment to consider it."

The brunette sighed before continuing. "I meant what I said though; I hate that everything is a fight and that you panic every time something new is happening. But we will figure this out together, I promise. Because I want you back too."

Arizona smiled at the other woman. "Really? You still want to be with me?" the blonde breathed out and was met with a soft nod from the brunette. Then Arizona turned serious again. "And I know everything is a fight, and I'm sorry about that. But Addison said something, and I think she's kind of right. She said it sounds like you just throw things at me and don't give me any time to process it. And I think we've learned by now, that I'm the kind of person who needs to process. Just because you've processed something doesn't mean I have. We need to be better at communicating. I need to be better at not just refusing something, but tell you that I'll think about it. Because I will always think about it. You have no idea how important you are to me, Callie. But you need to be better at giving me a minute too" the blonde gently said.

Callie smiled in return. "You're really important to me as well. And Addison is one smart woman!"

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah, she really is. But I guess she has a little bit of experience in the area. I don't know how her and Teddy's relationship evolved, we've never really talked about that, but I figure Addison must have gone through something similar with Teds. Because she seems like a person who could freak out a little. Look at how she handled finding the engagement ring."

Callie laughed and leaned forward resting her forehead against the blonde's. "She did freak out. They'd been together for two weeks when Addison told me, and she was really struggling with how to handle Teddy. But they worked it out. And so will we, Arizona."

The blonde smiled. "Yeah we will. And by the way, Addison wanted to come and check on you last night, but I told her not to. I figured I had to be the one to tell you, that I'd told them. I didn't know how you would feel about them knowing, now that you ended us" she softly let out.

The brunette pulled back and looked into cerulean eyes. "I'm sorry I did that. I just couldn't grasp it. I couldn't handle anymore. I was so stressed out about everything, you wouldn't believe it."

Arizona gave Callie a small smile. "It's okay. I get why you did it. What you said made perfect sense to me. I'm just happy I didn't lose you for good. I would have hated myself forever."

Callie leaned in and pecked pink lips. "I'm happy about that too. What do you say we invite Teddy and Addison here for lunch tomorrow? Or it could be at your apartment, if you prefer that? I just think it might be a good idea to talk to them together. Even though you've undoubtedly told them a lot, I'm sure they have all sorts of questions they didn't want to ask you last night or this morning."

Arizona sighed in content at the kiss. "That sounds good. They'll like that. Especially Addison. I could tell she was really worried about you. And it can be wherever, I don't care."

Callie smiled and took an ivory hand into her own and intertwined their fingers. "It's getting late. Do you want to spend the night here? You look really, really tired Arizona" the brunette hesitantly said.

The blonde looked at the brunette. "I would love to. But I really need to know for sure that we're back together, or I'll never fall asleep."

The brunette smiled lovingly at the blonde. "If you'll have me then I'm yours Arizona! Tonight really proved to me, that I never want to kiss anyone other than you ever again."

Arizona stood from the couch pulling Callie up from the floor at the same time. "I always want you Callie. Because I'm absolutely sure that I don't ever want to kiss anyone other than you again too. And we can talk more in the morning. But the important stuff is sorted out for now, so I really just want to go to bed. If that's okay?"

The blonde then turned to make her way towards the stairs, but was stopped as Callie pulled her back and captured her lips in a searing kiss. A soft tongue made its way into Arizona's mouth and the blonde moaned in satisfaction of once again kissing the brunette like this. "I've really, really missed you Callie" the blonde said a little out of breath as they parted.

"I've missed you too." Callie smiled at Arizona. "And now you can go to bed. You're clearly exhausted, so you take the bathroom first. I'll wait."

The blonde leaned up and kissed plump lips one more time. "Thank you. And not for letting me use the bathroom first, but for taking me back. I'm really, really sorry I'm an idiot, that freaks out, Callie" Arizona stated with teary eyes.

"And I'm sorry I'm an idiot that doesn't give you time to process anything" the brunette replied as she caressed an ivory cheek. "Now get your ass to the bathroom. I'll see you in a minute."

Arizona smiled and hurried up the stairs. She opened the door to the bedroom and made her way in. Like every time the blonde smiled brightly when she entered. Ever since they spend the night together in the brunette's house for the first time, Callie had taken up the left side of the bed permanently. She'd moved all of her things from the nightstand on the right side to the nightstand on the left, and it made Arizona's heart swell every time. Teddy had hit the nail right on the head with her words; Callie really was a considerate person. And she was once again Arizona's.

 **That's it for chapter 20 guys! I hope you liked it.**

 **As always, please let me know what you thought of it :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	21. Chapter 21

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys!**

 **Let me start by saying that my heart goes out to Turkey! What happened in Istanbul is devastating :'(**

 **Thank you for the nice reviews for chapter 20 :) I'm so happy that you weren't put off by Mark and Andrew – but maybe that was because I had you all really worried about what would happen beforehand and then it turned out that it wasn't as bad as you'd pictured it after all ;)**

 **Some of you seem to think that Callie forgave Arizona too easy, but what can I say – we do the weirdest things when we fancy someone ;)**

 **For one of the guests: I'm not ashamed to admit, that Callie was my favorite character overall (I think I've mentioned this in a previous authors note). But during the last couple of seasons Arizona has really grown on me, and I prefer season 12 Arizona over season 12 Callie personality wise - but Sara Ramirez will always by far be the hottest one of her and Jessica to me though! :D But I have to say I don't think Arizona is horrible and selfish in my story – I think they both have issues and handle things less than ideal. They kind of take turns at not being very good at paying attention to each other – but maybe that'll all change with this chapter ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading of chapter 21! :)**

CHAPTER 21:

Callie slowly opened her eyes and yawned. She instantly pushed herself closer to the blonde lying next to her. Arizona was lying on her belly facing Callie and her arm was draped across the brunette's midsection. Callie smiled as she took in the other woman. She reached out and softly removed a few strands of blonde hair that was covering Arizona's face. She looked so peaceful in this moment and she was obviously still in a very deep sleep.

The brunette knew they were nowhere near done talking, but she was so happy that Arizona was there with her right now. Happy that she'd told their friends about the relationship and that she'd tried to meet Callie's request. And that they'd worked it out. The brunette sighed. She prayed that Arizona hadn't just said it all out of desperation. But that she was in fact ready to tell people.

Callie slowly untangled herself from Arizona. She leaned down and softly kissed an ivory cheek. Her heart swelled as a small smile grazed the blonde's lips as she mumbled something incoherent. Then the brunette grabbed her phone and made her way downstairs. She started the coffee maker, went to the living room and sat down on the couch. She turned on her phone and found Addison's number.

The brunette sat there staring at the wall while the phone rang. She had no idea how Addison would react towards her. She didn't doubt that the red head was worried, but she also had a feeling that she'd be slightly hurt by the fact that Callie hadn't told her about her relationship with Arizona.

"Hello" a sleepy voice greeted her.

"Shit Ads, did I wake you?" the brunette questioned at the sound of her friend and glanced at the clock on the wall. 9.47 am.

"Callie, hey. Yeah you kind of did. But it's okay I had to get up soon anyway." Addison gently replied. "What's up?"

"I'm really sorry. I just figured it would be okay to call, because you don't usually sleep this late" the brunette said and sighed a little bit. "I talked to Arizona, Ads. She told me, that she'd told you guys about us, and I..." Callie paused. She didn't really know how to have this conversation with her friend. "I just wanted to let you know that I'd talked to her."

"I know, and you're usually right, but Teddy and I were up kind of late last night talking. As for things with you and Arizona I have to admit that I'd really wish that you'd been the one to tell me, Callie. But right now I just need to know if you're all right? Arizona said that you'd broken it off with her and by the state she was in, I can only assume that was hard on you too" Addison softly said.

"I'm okay. I know you're worried and probably don't really believe me, but I promise you, that I'm okay. Arizona was here last night when I came back from my date actually. We talked, made up, and she's currently sleeping upstairs in my bed" Callie spoke before sighing again. "I really wanted to tell you Addison. All of it. I just couldn't. But I'd really like to do it now, which is also why I'm calling. I wanted to know if you and Teddy are free for lunch today? You could come by my place and the four of us could hang out, and you guys could ask all kinds of questions and you and me could talk, just the two of us" Callie asked hopefully.

"That sounds really good, Callie. We'd love to! When should we be there? And should we bring anything?" Addison replied with a soft voice.

The brunette smiled. "Just be here around 1. And just your sweet selves are enough."

The red head chuckled. "You don't have to suck up to me. And we'll be there at 1."

"Perfect" Callie replied. "I can't wait to see you Ads."

"Me neither. Now go think about what delicious dishes you're going to prepare for us. I'll see you later" the red head spoke.

"Yeah. Say hi to Teddy for me" Callie said before ending the call.

The brunette then stood up and went to the kitchen. She got eggs from the fridge along with some fruit and started making breakfast. Just as she finished the eggs and debated whether or not she should go wake up the blonde she heard movement upstairs.

Callie smiled and started setting the breakfast bar for the two women to eat breakfast there. As she was reaching up in the cabinet for coffee cups two pale arms snaked around her waist and slowly caressed the exposed skin on the brunette's stomach.

When she sat the cups down on the counter Callie leaned back against Arizona a little and the blonde rested her chin on the slightly taller woman's shoulder. "Good morning" Arizona said in the most adorable sleep laden voice Callie had ever heard.

The brunette turned around and was met with a very sleep tousled blonde. She couldn't help herself as she reached up and ran her hand through blonde locks, softly caressing the blonde's scalp along the way. Arizona closed her eyes and hummed in content at the other woman's actions.

Callie leaned down and captured pink lips in a soft, slow kiss. She gently traced her tongue across the other woman's lower lip, and she was instantly granted access. Callie sighed as her tongue made contact with Arizona's soft one and the brunette moved her hand to the blonde's neck pulling her closer.

When they parted Callie smiled at Arizona as she took her hand and guided her to one of the bar stools. "Did you sleep okay?" the brunette asked as she moved to fill the cups with coffee.

Arizona smiled. "Okay? I slept amazing." She reached out and took one of the cups from Callie's hand. "Thank you."

The brunette smiled back, put her own cup down and brought the food over. Then she sat down next to the blonde. "I'm glad. You looked really tired. I got a little worried about you" the brunette said while reaching over and caressing an ivory thigh.

The blonde looked at Callie and the brunette noticed the mesmerizing blue eyes in front of her were a bit glazed over. "I was. I didn't sleep that well the other night, and my head wasn't really letting me rest for just a second all day yesterday. But luckily I got to spend last night in the arms of the most wonderful, most forgiving, not to mention most breathtaking creature on the planet. I just really hope she hasn't changed her mind about taking me back during the night."

Callie moved her hand to the other woman's cheek. "We've still got some things to talk about and figure out. Together. But I meant it when I said that I want to be with you. And I wouldn't kiss you like I did, if I'd regretted forgiving you."

Arizona leaned over and pecked plump lips. "Thank you. For being so incredible good to me. I'm going to try letting that go the other way as well in the future" the blonde stated a bit sadly.

"You already are, Arizona. And please believe me when I say, that I'm SO happy that you're here now. I would definitely be heartbroken if you weren't, but it would have been okay. If you hadn't talked to Teddy and Addison and if you hadn't figured out that you'd ever be ready, then that would have been okay. You weren't wrong to have those feelings. And I weren't wrong to have mine. We are human beings. There aren't any rules as to how we should react. Sometimes those feelings can be united and sometimes they can't. Luckily we figured it out" Callie softly stated.

Arizona smiled back and a single tear trickled down her cheek. "You're so flawless, you don't even know it!" the blonde let out and smiled before leaning closer the brunette again. "And I'm really, really, really crazy about you" she whispered before once again connecting her lips with Callie's. The kiss was soft and Arizona couldn't help but bite down on Callie's lip slightly as she pulled back eliciting a moan from the brunette.

"Now, let's eat! Because this looks delicious and I'm starving. I didn't eat much yesterday either" Arizona finished with a smile as she leaned back.

Callie moved her hand down to an ivory one and gave it a squeeze before reaching for the eggs and handing it to the blonde. "Here you go." Arizona eagerly piled eggs over on her plate as Callie took the fruit. "Oh by the way, I called Addison. She and Teddy will be here at 1 for lunch" the brunette added.

Arizona shoved a forkful of eggs in her mouth before taking the fruit from her girlfriend. "That sounds nice. Do we have to go grocery shopping?"

The brunette smiled and wiped a bit of egg from pink lips. "No. I've got something we can cook for them."

"Oh thank God" the blonde breathed out. "Because I was really hoping for a quick make out session on the couch before they get here" she smiled at Callie and wiggled her eyebrows.

Callie laughed. "We'll talk first. Then we can make out. Deal?"

Arizona pouted a little but Callie just raised one of her eyebrows at the other woman. "Okay, fine. Talk and then kissing. Lots of kissing" the blonde exclaimed.

The brunette smiled and leaned in to the blonde until their faces were only inches apart. "You can bet your sweet ass that there'll be lots of kissing. We've got ten days to make up for." Then she pecked the blonde's lips before she leaned back again and started eating her own breakfast.

* * *

Callie and Arizona sat facing each other on the couch. Arizona was picking invisible lint of her night-shorts and the brunette hated, that the other woman was that nervous about the talk. The duo had decided to just get it over with before showering, changing and preparing lunch for their friends.

The brunette reached over and took one of the fumbling, ivory hands. "Let me start by saying, that I meant what I said yesterday Arizona; I want to be with you. More than I'll ever be able to express." Brown orbs connected with blue ones, and Callie could see both relief and nervousness in the other woman's eyes.

"With that being said I can't help but be worried that you only said what you did last night because you were cornered. Maybe you were so were so blinded by wanting to be with me, that you'd say anything for me to take you back" the brunette hesitantly spoke.

Arizona shook her head. "No Callie. I want to tell people. I want to tell my dad and Tim. Maybe not this instant, but I want to tell them."

The brunette smiled at her girlfriend. "I'm glad you feel that way. I want to tell my parents, Aria and Rei too." Callie looked down and played with Arizona's fingers.

"I know I have to take your need to process into consideration, but I'd really be grateful if you could maybe take account of my needs and feelings too. I hate being exactly as let down as I fear I will every time we face a new obstacle, Arizona. I want to spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as possible, and I really hope you want me to be happy too" Callie whispered softly.

"Oh Callie. Come here!" Arizona reached out and pulled the brunette to her. She maneuvered them on the couch so she now leaned against the back with her arm around the brunette and Callie rested her head in the crook of the blonde's neck.

"Of course I want you to be happy. There's very little in this world that I want more than that. And I'm sorry I've been so focused on me. I'm sorry I haven't been more attentive to you. I'll be from now on, I promise. You deserve that. You deserve alle the best in this world, because there's no way there are anyone out there as warmhearted and tender as you" Arizona spoke as she gently nuzzled a caramel thigh that was resting against her own.

Callie lifted her head and looked at Arizona. "Thank you."

The blonde smiled and leaned towards the other woman. "Could we maybe proceed to the kissing now? Because we don't have much time! We have to prepare lunch for Teds and Ads. And we also need to shower."

The brunette smiled and captured the pink lips before her. She pulled back a little before Arizona had the chance to deepen the kiss. "Don't worry, I'd picked something easy. It's very quick to cook and most of it just needs to go in the oven."

Arizona smiled at Callie and slowly leaned forward pushing Callie back until she rested against the couch cushions. Then the blonde gently lowered herself on the brunette. "You're a genius."

With that Arizona claimed Callie's lips in a soft kiss. But as soon as their tongues connected the kiss got more heated. The brunette was floored by how she could never get enough of this. It was like every time Arizona kissed her it exceeded her memory of it. It was always better somehow.

Callie felt a warm hand make its way under her shirt and caress her sides. She moaned into the other woman's mouth and that clearly spurred the other woman on as the hand instantly moved to one of her unrestrained breasts.

The brunette arched her back a little at the pleasure of a soft thumb and index finger circling and then pinching her nipple slightly. She tore her lips from Arizona's to inhale some much needed air. Just one touch from the blonde and she was instantly turned on. "Fuck. I've really missed you" she breathed out as she kept eye contact with Arizona.

Arizona smiled at the look on the other woman's face. Her eyecolor had changed to almost black and Arizona could see the arousal in those beautiful orbs. She wondered how Callie would look as she was taken to the ultimate highest of pleasures. She made a mental bet with herself, that the brunette coming undone would be the most beautiful sight ever.

The blonde leaned down and recaptured plump lips. When the need for air became too great she pulled back an inch and looked into dark brown eyes once again as she felt a caramel hand trace her toned stomach. "I've really missed you too."

* * *

When Callie opened the door to greet her guests she was immediately engulfed in a bone crushing hug from her red haired friend.

The brunette smiled and returned the hug. Addison blushed a little as she pulled back. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've been waiting a day and a half to do that, and I was slowly going insane."

Callie chuckled and pulled Addison in for another hug. "Well I'm glad you didn't make it to complete insanity then. And you don't have to apologize for hugging me Ads. I like it when you do that."

Addison smiled as she eased out of the hug and moved inside the house. Teddy stepped forward and gave the brunette a brief hug before following her fiancé inside.

Callie closed the door and the trio went to the living room where Arizona was waiting. The blonde looked kind of nervous to Callie, and the brunette didn't like the feeling that rose in her at the sight.

"Please take a seat. I'll go get the rest of the food" Callie spoke as she gestured to the dining table. She came back with an oven cooked salmon and some fresh baked bread that she put down next to a salad on the table. "What can I get you guys to drink?"

Addison smiled. "I'd like a diet coke, please."

"Just for water for me, thank you Callie" Teddy said.

Callie then turned her attention to Arizona. She put her hand on the blonde's shoulder. The other woman flinched slightly and it didn't go unnoticed by the brunette. She gave the shoulder a gentle squeeze as she softly spoke. "And what can I get you?"

Arizona couldn't help but smile a little at the change of tone in Callie's voice from when she addressed their friends. "Do you have the mojito flavored 7Up, I like?" she asked.

The brunette smiled adoringly at her girlfriend. "Of course I do. I'll be right back. Please start helping yourselves to the food" Then she made her way to the kitchen. As she returned she sat down on the empty chair next to Arizona and started plating food for herself.

"Soooo" Addison started as the foursome was eating "you mentioned this morning that you guys were back together, Callie."

The brunette smiled and eased her hand across the table to take Arizona's. But the blonde moved her hand just as Callie's hand was about to connect with hers. A look of hurt shot across the brunette's face as she withdrew her hand. "Yeah, we are. We sorted it out."

Teddy gave Arizona a questioning look before smiling at the brunette. "I'm so happy for you guys. The other night didn't really leave much room for excitement about this whole thing, but now that you're back together I can FINALLY unleash it. IT IS AWESOME YOU GUYS!" the honey-blonde exclaimed as she clapped her hands.

Addison chuckled at her lover's antics and put her arm out to rest it on the other woman's chair as she softly caressed the honey-blonde's back. "Maybe tone it down just a tad, my love" the red head said as she smiled at her fiancé. "But she's right; it is awesome. I mean you're our best friends. You deserve happiness. And I for one would be ecstatic if you could find it with each other. I couldn't have come up with a better match myself."

Arizona smiled first at Addison and then turned her attention to Callie. "It really is awesome" she stated lovingly before looking at her honey-blonde friend. "And it's great that you're excited Teds. As long as you're only excited when you're with us and Addison. Because we need a chance to tell people ourselves before you 'unleash it'."

Teddy smiled. "Of course. I CAN control myself you know." Addison couldn't help herself and snorted slightly. Teddy immediately turned her head and squinted her eyes at her fiancé. "Do you have something to add, Addi?" she asked.

Addison leaned in and softly kissed her lover's lips. "You're adorable honey. And I don't doubt that you'll be able to control yourself when in public. I'll just prepare myself to let you have ten minutes every night to vent to me about it before we go to bed."

Callie and Arizona both chuckled as Teddy pouted slightly. "I don't need to do that" the honey-blonde huffed.

Arizona smiled at her friend. "I like that you're so invested in this. It's not a bad thing."

"I just want you to be happy. Both of you. And I like the idea of doing double date things in the future. And until we can do that, we can have movie nights and be all lovey-dovey together" Teddy stated with clear excitement in her eyes.

Callie chuckled. "You and Arizona can be all lovey-dovey and Addison and I can be the ones to keep it down just a bit" she said before looking at Arizona. "Not that this one can't snuggle up close to me anytime she wishes to."

The brunette couldn't help but feel a little like a fish out of water. Somehow this lunch felt different and somehow it felt like she was just enjoying some food with her friends. Like she used to. And she didn't know how to change it. Arizona had very clearly signaled that she didn't want Callie to touch her.

Callie felt a little better though as Arizona smiled and let her eyes connect with Callie's. The blue eyes before her were so warm and tender. The blonde then looked at her two friends. "Is everybody done eating?" As the two women nodded, Arizona looked at Callie. "Why don't you and Addison go relax in the backyard? I'll clear the table and Teddy can keep me company."

"Don't be ridiculous! I can help you clear the table" Teddy quickly added. "But it's a good idea. You two should go hang out."

Callie looked at Addison who smiled back. Then the brunette rose from her seat. "Okay" then she looked first at Teddy and then at Arizona. "Thank you guys."

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "Don't mention it. No go."

With that the brunette and the red head made their way through the kitchen and out the patio door.

* * *

Addison and Callie slumped down on two lounge chairs overlooking the backyard. A soft breeze was in the air and Callie closed her eyes for a minute enjoying the fresh air. Then she opened them and looked at Addison who was staring at her intensely.

The brunette chuckled. "Okay, you obviously want to ask me something so go right ahead."

Addison bit her lower lip for a second before asking "For how long have you been in love with her?"

Callie was kind of surprised at that question. She sighed. "That's a really difficult question Ads. I don't even know that I am. I think I'm somehow still denying myself to acknowledge those kinds of feelings."

The red head smiled at her friend. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that Callie! I haven't seen you look at Mark the way you look at her for years. You're in love with her" Addison concluded.

Callie leaned her head against the back of the lounge chair. "Maybe. I know I definitely could fall in love with her. And once I loosen up there'll be no turning back. I'll fall faster and harder than ever before. I'm just still a bit scared Ads. That she's not really ready for this. Look at how she behaved just now when I touched her or even moved to do it. And it was on her shoulder! I could have done that when we were friends too. How do I know she's really ready?" The brunette sighed.

Addison smiled. "Remember how Teddy reacted back when her and I declared we were a couple to our friends and family? It was like she all of a sudden couldn't even handle being in the same room as me. It was like she was afraid, I would molest her in front of everyone if she let me take her hand. I think you and I have managed to find significant others that are more alike than we would have ever imagined."

The brunette chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Callie turned her attention to Addison. "I really am sorry Addison. I know I could have told you without you spilling it to Teddy, I just… I somehow couldn't cope with the consequences if for some reason Teddy found out and told Arizona. But I was so close to telling you so many times because she really challenged me occasionally and I could have used someone who could have given me an opinion from a neutral point of view."

Addison gave Callie a small smile. "I want you to know, that if something like this should ever happen again, you can tell me. And I will MAKE SURE Teddy doesn't find out. And in this particular situation I would also have made sure that Arizona never discovered that I knew. I'm your friend, and I'm here for you Callie. Always!" the red head finished.

"Thank you Addison. I'll keep that in mind. Because she had me so frustrated and confused sometimes" Callie said.

The red head chuckled. "Just wait until you're going to have sex with her the first time. Remember how I told you it was…interesting…with Teddy?" Callie nodded at her friend.

"Well, we'd had the most amazing evening. We'd eaten take out, watched a movie curled up on the couch and just been together. Then as we went to bed, she snuggled really close to me and just started peeling of my shirt and shorts. And I was ALL FOR IT Callie. God, I wanted to have sex with her so bad. And things progressed really well. Until I took of her panties and she was completely naked. Then she just burst into tears. She was sobbing Callie, and I didn't have the slightest idea what was going on because she wouldn't tell me. I desperately tried to put her panties back on, but she just started kicking her legs furiously and cried even harder" Addison recited and Callie couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Hey, it's not funny" the red head said as she started laughing herself. "Anyway, I finally got her to tell me, and it turned out she was scared to have sex with me. Because she'd never done it with a woman before and I kind of intimidated her. She was apparently convinced I was some sort of sex Goddess and she was scared she wouldn't be enough."

Callie chuckled. "A sex Goddess? Really? Why the hell did she think that?" the brunette questioned.

Addison reached out and swatted Callie's arm. "Hey! I'm really hot and believe me when I way that I know what I'm doing!" the red head let out.

"Well then I know who to ask for tips, once we reach that point" Callie said as she smiled at her friend.

* * *

Arizona was busy putting the left overs away as Teddy was filling the dishes in the dishwasher.

"So she just forgave you just like that?" the honey-blonde asked her friend.

"No not 'just like that'. I had to listen to her telling about her amazing date and Joshua Halls kissing her. And I for sure thought that I'd messed up and lost her forever. But then she told me, that I was perfect to her" Arizona got a dreamily look in her eyes "and that she wanted to be with me. But she didn't know how, when I didn't know if I ever wanted it to be known to the public. But then I told her, that I'd told you guys and then we made up and went to bed." The blonde sighed.

"But we talked again this morning. And she's kind of worried that I only said I was ready because I would lose her otherwise. She's scared I'm not really ready. So she wants to take things slow. Like even slower than before. To make sure I'm ready. But I really am!" Arizona finished.

Teddy looked at her friend for a second. "Are you though? Ready I mean. You flinched when she laid her hands on your shoulder and when she slipped her hand across the table to take yours, you removed it" the honey-blonde sighed. "Don't string her along or hurt her Arizona. She's an amazing person not to mention Addi's best friend. She doesn't deserve that."

Arizona looked out through the kitchen window at Callie and Addison who were laughing at something the red head said. The brunette was dressed really casually and didn't wear any makeup at all. But still Arizona couldn't remember ever seeing anyone as beautiful as her.

"I am. Ready. I'm just scared as hell Teds. She's so miraculous and I really don't want to mess it up. And I'm scared that I'm going to. Or that our relationship can't handle being in the public eye. The press is going to go ballistic once they find out. She's Callie Torres for crying out loud. But I want to be with her. And I'm ready to be with her. For real. Because I'm so in love with her Teddy" the blonde softly spoke.

The honey-blonde stepped up next to her friend. She put her arm around the blonde's shoulder as they both looked out the window at their significant other. "You should tell her that. Talk to her about it. When I first kissed Addison anywhere that wasn't at her or my home, I nearly threw up in her mouth. I could literally feel the bile rise in my throat. I was scared shitless of what that would mean for me and for us. But I have never ever regretted doing it Arizona. Because no matter how it had turned out between us, I would have gotten to experience her loving me. I would never trade that for anything. And I have a feeling that having Callie Torres love you is nearly as amazing as having Addison Montgomery love you" Teddy smiled as she watched her fiancé playfully swatt the brunette on the arm in the yard.

"And I know your situation is different because we aren't even close to being the stars you guys are and that prevented our relationship from reaching the public for two years. But you guys will manage Arizona. It will be hard, but if you just remember to talk to each other and take some time in private just to be girlfriends and enjoy being with each other, forget about the rest of the world, then I'm sure you can deal with it" the honey-blonde finished.

As if they could sense the two blonde's watching them, the duo in the yard turned around and looked at the two women in the kitchen. Callie winked at Arizona and sent the blonde a dazzling smile. The blonde felt her knees go a little week at that and before she knew what she was doing, she was on her way through the patio door and headed straight for the brunette.

Callie looked at her with questioning eyes as she moved towards the brunette. "Hey, what's u…" the brunette didn't get to finish her question though, because in a matter of seconds Arizona had straddled Callie and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. The brunette was really surprised at the other woman's actions, but like every time Arizona's lips were on hers she instantly relaxed and kissed her back. Callie felt the blonde's tongue force its way into her mouth and she couldn't help herself as she moaned a little when she felt the other woman's soft muscle wrap around her own.

As the two of them parted a while later Callie put her arms around Arizona's waist to keep the other woman firmly on her lap. "What was that for?" the brunette asked while panting.

The blonde reached up and cupped a caramel cheek as she smiled at Callie. "I always want to kiss you. Every single time I lay my eyes on you all I can think about is kissing you. And you really deserved this kiss" Arizona sighed a little before continuing "I'm really sorry I flinched, when you put your hand on me and that I removed my hand from the table when you reached for it earlier. I know it hurt you because we just talked about your fears of me not really being ready. But I promise you Callie, I am. I'm all kinds of scared, but I want to do this. With you. Because you're worth it. During every fight, every stupid paparazzi ambush, every hateful headline and whatever else we have to go through, I want you to know that I'll always think you're worth it" the blonde finished as her thumb caressed the brunette's cheek.

Callie's eyes were glossy, and she could feel a tear spill from her right eye. "Arizona" she choked out "I don't know what to…You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. Thank you. You'll always be worth it too, and there's nobody else I'd want to go through this with than you" the brunette gently said.

Arizona placed one last kiss on plump lips and smiled at her girlfriend. "I'm glad. I'm going to go back to the kitchen and let you two finish your talk" the blonde spoke as she got off Callie.

The brunette softly grabbed the other woman's hand. "We won't be long."

"No, take your time. Teddy and I can entertain each other just fine." The blonde squeezed the caramel hand before walking back towards the honey-blonde who stood on the doorstep.

"You might as well fuck her right there on the lounge chair. That was some kiss, girl" Teddy smirked.

Arizona blushed a little. "Shut up Teds! I can kiss her however I want. And we haven't even had sex yet, remember" The blonde said as she moved back to the kitchen with the honey-blonde trailing behind her.

Teddy snorted. "I'll give it two weeks max. If you kiss like that when we're around I don't think my mind is dirty enough to imagine how you kiss when you're alone. It's only a matter of time before you have her naked and writhing underneath you."

The blonde paled a little at the thought. "We both know that your mind is more than dirty enough for that. And I really don't think we're there yet. I mean I've thought about it of course. But I don't think Callie has" Arizona stated as she fumbled with her hands.

"Of course she's thought about it Arizona. She's very clearly in to you" Teddy said.

Arizona sighed. "I'm so nervous about that step, Teddy. I have no idea what to do, when we reach that point!"

Teddy chuckled. "You didn't have any idea what to do the first time you slept with a guy either. And you do have an idea what to do actually." Arizona looked at the honey-blonde with a questioning look.

"Don't tell me, you've never masturbated Arizona. While it's not the same at all, it kind of is though. You'll know what to do, because you know how to behave in an area with a vagina. And you'll be able to tell what she likes. You'll make her feel amazing. I bet it'll all feel very naturally once you get there. I know it did for me. I was a wreck at first of course but once I got past that it was earthshattering. But I almost ruined it. I actually burst out crying the second Addison took of my panties for the first time" Teddy giggled at the memory.

"Just try to relax and enjoy the experience. You guys trust each other and, dare I say, love each other. You'll explore it together. She's not going to laugh at you or bully you or anything. You both want it to be a good experience for the other person. I spend so much time being nervous as hell, and it wasn't until Addison told me, that she'd be more comfortable with waiting, that I realized what my nerves were doing to her experience of it" the honey-blonde softly said.

Arizona smiled in gratitude. "Thank you Teddy. And I know you're right, but it's still going to be hard to just shed the nerves. BEcause she turns me on like nothing I've ever experienced before. She's going to be amazing. I just hope I'll make her feel half as good as she undoubtedly will make me feel."

The honey-blonde put her hand on Arizona's arm. "You will Arizona. I would be surprised if you didn't turn her on as well. She's going to love having your hands and mouth on her. Trust me."

Arizona reached out and pulled Teddy in for a hug. "Thank you Teds. For being an awesome friend. And when I'm freaking out right before having sex with Callie, I'm going to call you in panic from the bathroom, so you better always pick up instantly when I call from now on" the blonde said with a smile on her face as she pulled back from the hug.

Teddy chuckled. "I will. I promise. I'm changing your ringtone to 'Sex Bomb' as soon as I get home and I'll warn Addi that NO MATTER WHAT we're doing I always have to pick up if that sounds out. But you're not going to need it Arizona. It will be great. Because it will be with Callie" the honey-blonde finished on a serious note.

Arizona turned and once again looked at her girlfriend in the yard. Her brown hair was flowing slightly in the breeze and she smiled really big while talking to Addison. The blonde couldn't help but smile herself as she looked at the other woman. "You're right. Because everything is always great when I'm with her" Arizona softly stated.

 **And that's a wrap for chapter 21.**

 **Let me know what you thought about it.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	22. Chapter 22

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi you guys!**

 **First of all: WAAAAAAAALES! :) So sorry Belgium, but that Gareth Bale and his countrymen have really gotten me hooked on wanting to keep them in the EUROs :)**

 **And I know this is probably getting old, but THANK YOU again for your many and lovely reviews. I think it's kind of insane how big of a crowd I've got reading this – I had never ever anticipated such interest in my story. I'm very grateful for every single one of you readers out there! :P But please continue to review because that really does fuel me! :)**

 **To** **Beachii92** **:** **LOL** **– you should pay attention while in class! Although I'm oddly flattered that you use my fanfic as pastime ;)**

 **So this turned out to be a very short author's note – I'm sure you all appreciate me not babbling on and on for once! :P Rushing straight to chapter 22! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **ENJOY! :D ;) :P**

CHAPTER 22:

It was late April and twelve days had passed since Addison and Teddy had been to lunch at Callie's place. The blonde and the brunette had enjoyed the fact that their friends knew about the relationship and they'd been hanging out with the duo a lot. They were slowly easing in to being a couple in front of their friends and they easily kissed each other and shared soft touches in the presence of Teddy and Addison.

It was Friday and Callie was making her way through the studio. The last table read of the season had happened yesterday and the brunette couldn't wait for summer hiatus. Granted she had to spend a lot of time shooting her new movie, but she would still enjoy getting a breather from the show. And spend some serious down time with Arizona.

The blonde was shooting some very difficult scenes these weeks and it very clearly took its toll on her. Some days she was so emotionally exhausted that the two women barely talked to each other when they came back to one of their homes. Sometimes they just lay on the couch in silence for a few hours after dinner and then went to bed. Callie didn't mind though. She knew what it was like for Arizona.

But starting tonight she had an entire weekend alone with her blonde girlfriend and she couldn't wait. The brunette was shaken from her thoughts as Addison strolled up to her. "Hey. How are you this fine day?" the red head asked.

Callie smiled and looped her arm through Addison's as she quickly looked around to check if anyone else was in earshot. "I'm great. Neither I nor Arizona are shooting this weekend, so we've got two whole days together."

Addison smiled at the happiness in her friend's voice. "That sounds nice. Did you seal the deal yet?" the red head winked as she bumped her shoulder against the brunette's.

Callie felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks. "No. Not yet. I want to though. God I really want to Ads."

The red head smiled at her friend. "I'm sure she wants to as well. Just make a move already, Callie" Addison softly said and unhooked her arm from Callie's.

The brunette shook her head. "I'm not going to do that. This time I'm going to patiently wait until she comes to me. Until she figures out for herself, that she's ready."

Before Addison had the chance to respond, Mark approached them. "Hey, if it isn't some of my favorite ladies" the man stated.

Addison smiled at him. "As much as I would like to stay and get complimented by you Mark, I have to go. I have a meeting with the CEO of the network in ten minutes."

Callie and Mark smiled at Addison as she made her way down the hall. The brunette then turned to her ex-husband and took him in. He looked both really happy and really drained. The man caught her gaze and smiled at her. "I feel like I haven't talked to you forever, Cal. How are you?"

The brunette smiled. She could tell him. Right then and there. About Arizona. And how happy the blonde made her. And he would be supportive, right? "I'm really good Mark" Callie softly said. For some reason the words just didn't seem to want to leave her mouth and she was kind of disappointed in herself.

Mark smiled at her. "I'm really happy to hear that. I read in 'Gossip' that you went on a date with Joshua Halls. How was it?"

Callie's smile faltered a little. "It was nice. But I'm not going to go on another date with him. We just didn't click like that, you know" she shrugged her shoulders. "How are you?"

The brunette could tell that the man next to her was struggling with something. His eyes were both dull and so full of life. "I'm good. These scenes with Arizona are really draining me, though. But I'm sure she's told you about that."

"Yeah, she's mentioned it" Callie replied. "But I'm sure you're both doing a really good job. You're going to tell this story in the best way possible. I can't wait to see it."

Mark smiled. "Thank you." Then the man got a little teary eyed. "You're really great, Cal. You know that I think that, right?"

Callie looked at her ex-husband with furrowed brows. "Of course Mark. I think you're really great too. Is something wrong?"

The man shook his head. "No. I just miss you sometimes." Callie raised a brow at him and he quickly added "Not like that. I miss talking to you. Really talking to you. You were my best friend for ten years. And just because we split up doesn't mean I don't think you are great."

"I think you're great too. And I personally think that the dinner to 'celebrate' our divorce is long overdue. What do you think?" the brunette asked as she sent Mark a smile.

"I'd really like that Cal. I'll text you. I've got to go now though, because I'm on my way to another scene with blondie" the man said.

The brunette moved forward and hugged Mark briefly. "Go be awesome. And we'll find a time to do that dinner."

Mark reached up and softly stroked Callie's cheek. "I'm going to hold you to that." With that he turned around and moved towards the set.

* * *

Later that night Callie and Arizona lay cuddled up on the blonde's couch. Callie had made lasagna for dinner and the blonde had eaten as if she hadn't had any food in days. Now the brunette was spooning the blonde as 'Finding Nemo' played on the TV. The blonde had begged Callie to watch it when she zapped past it. And the brunette hadn't minded at all. She liked that movie. It was way better than getting stuck with 'The Princess Diaries' again.

Arizona breathed out in content. This was perfect. She'd been looking forward to this the entire day. Just being with Callie. Like this. The more time the blonde spend with the brunette the more she longed to be with her when they were apart.

"I had the chance to tell Mark about us today, but I didn't. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't seem to do it." The words were whispered against blonde hair so softly that Arizona almost didn't hear them.

She turned and smiled a little at the brunette. "That's okay Callie. You'll do it once you're ready."

Callie sighed. "I'm just really scared he's going to take offence. Or think that what he and I had was a lie. But it wasn't. I loved him and he was the center of my universe while we were together." The brunette smiled "but we're not together anymore. And I'm really happy about that, because that means I get to be here with you. And there's nowhere else I'd rather be. And it is absolutely ridiculous that I can't just tell him that."

Arizona smiled big at her girlfriend. "It's fine Callie. Really. You'll do it, I know you will. The chance will present itself again and again and someday you're going to welcome it. And then you're going to tell him. And he'll be happy for us. Let me know if you want us to tell him together, okay?" the blonde spoke as she let her thumb glide across plump lips.

"I will. But I think I need to do it alone. I owe him that" the brunette stated. "How is he though? He said he was good, but he looked kind of…I don't know sad, or scared maybe. But at the same time I don't remember seeing that much life in his eyes for the longest time. It was really strange."

Arizona gulped. She'd feared that Callie would ask her that one day. Ever since finding out about Mark and Andrew, Arizona had had quite a few conversations with her screen-partner about the relationship. Arizona felt all kinds of bad for the man. It seemed like his apprehensions of telling Callie put a hold on everything between him and Andrew. And while Andrew had to be one of the most patient guys out there, he was beginning to lose faith in the fact that Mark would ever tell the brunette. The blonde had told Mark time and time again that Callie wouldn't mind. That she would be happy that he was happy. She would mind though if she found out from someone else. Which is why Mark really needed to tell her. Preferably soon.

"He's fine. I think he's just tired to his bones from those exhausting scenes. We're both really looking forward to hiatus and getting a break from it all" Arizona said with a small smile.

Callie smiled at her girlfriend. "You guys deserve this summer break more than anyone. It'll be good for you to recharge your batteries."

"Yeah. And I'm really looking forward to those three weeks with my parents and Tim. It'll be good to be with them for an extended period of time. And Amanda is coming to Little Creek for a week, so that'll be good" the blonde said smiling.

Tim had finally told their parents about his relationship with Amanda, and the woman had eagerly accepted Barbara's offer of stopping by the Robbins-residence while visiting her parents during the summer.

"I'm sure it's going to be really great. If one of my breaks from shooting ends up being during the three weeks, you're visiting your parents, would you still consider coming to visit me" Callie asked a bit shyly.

Arizona leaned in and pecked her gorgeous girlfriend's lips. "I wouldn't even hesitate."

Callie smiled and then turned serious a second later. "Are you going to tell your dad and Tim about me?"

The blonde sighed a little. "I don't know Callie. I really want to say yes, but Amanda is going to be there, and it might be a bit much if I'm revealing something like this as well."

"But you wouldn't have to tell them while she was there. You could do it before she got there. Or after she left Little Creek" the brunette gently spoke.

"I said I don't know Callie. You don't know my family. You don't know what they can handle" Arizona spit out a bit harshly.

Callie pulled back a little at the tone in the other woman's voice. "Okay. I'm sorry" the brunette softly added.

The blonde exhaled loudly. "No, I'm sorry. I just…I don't know Callie, okay?"

"Okay" Callie replied and gazed into cerulean blue eyes. She was going to miss looking into those a lot during summer.

"Are you going to tell your parents, Aria and Rei, when you go visit them?" Arizona softly asked.

The brunette smiled at her girlfriend. "I am. I already talked to Jael about it. To make sure that she's there too. It's not that I think they're going to react badly to it, I just think I could use the support."

"You're so fearless. I really admire that about you" the blonde said as she gently reached out and caressed her girlfriend's cheek.

"I'm really not. But to me it'll just be worse to spend almost a week with them without telling. I'm happy, and I know they'll be able to see that. They deserve to know why. They'll want to know why" Callie stated as she closed her eyes in satisfaction of the other woman's touch.

Arizona halted her movements and leaned in to the brunette. "I'm going to try and tell my family as well. Because I'm happy too. And you're right; they'll be able to tell and they deserve to know. I would want to know if they were this happy."

Callie opened her eyes and smiled at Arizona. The blonde then leaned in and covered plump lips with her own. The two women made out for quite some time before Callie pulled back. "We should go to bed. I know you're tired and as much as I love kissing you, I can do that tomorrow. And the day after that."

The blonde smiled and pecked her girlfriend one more time on the lips. "You don't have to go to bed too. You can stay up and watch TV or something. It's still early."

"I want to be with you. If I can't sleep I'll just read. My book and my script for next week are in my bag" the brunette replied.

"Then let's go. I can snuggle up to you for some much needed sleep, while you practice being awesome next week" Arizona stated with a smile before rising from the couch and holding her hand out for Callie to take.

* * *

Arizona slowly woke from her slumber the next morning. She was on the edge of the bed, but a caramel hand held her firmly around the waist preventing her from falling off. The blonde moved so that her head faced the other way. Her brunette girlfriend was spread eagle on the bed resting on her stomach. Brown locks were everywhere and covered her face. Her shirt had rolled up and revealed a soft back. One of her caramel legs was slightly bent making the fabric covering the ass stretch across her butt.

The blonde reveled in the other woman's beauty. She couldn't believe this gorgeous woman was hers. And Arizona couldn't wait to get her girlfriend naked and really take in all of her. She decided in that moment that today was going to be the day she had sex with Callie. Because she really didn't want to wait anymore.

Arizona reached out and caressed the exposed skin on the brunette's back as she leaned over and placed a series of kisses on Callie's neck. "Mmmm" Arizona smiled as the other woman hummed in pleasure. "Good morning" came a raspy voice from underneath the masses of long, slightly curly, brown hair.

The blonde straightened up and rested her weight on her arms letting her girlfriend turn around on her back. Arizona smiled brightly as Callie's sleepy face came into view. "Good morning beautiful."

Callie smiled back. "Someone is in a good mood today" the brunette commented.

"Well, I've got a wonderful woman in my bed, why wouldn't I be in a good mood?" Arizona questioned before leaning down and greeting Callie with a passionate kiss. After a while Arizona pulled back a little and let the brunette get some air before capturing plump lips once again.

When they parted again Callie reached up and softly stroked the blonde's lower back. "Not that I don't LOVE waking up this way, but I really need to use the bathroom."

Arizona chuckled and moved to lie down on her side of the bed again. "Sorry. Go right ahead."

Callie leaned over and pecked pink lips. "Don't be sorry. I liked it VERY much!" She winked at her girlfriend before getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. When she reappeared in the bedroom she plumped down on the bed again. Before lying down she took her phone and unlocked it.

The blonde watched her girlfriend's muscles on her back and shoulders tense up and she reached over to brush her hand down Callie's back. "What's wrong?"

The brunette put the phone back on the nightstand and lay down facing the other woman. She smiled at her girlfriend, but it was very clear to Arizona that it was a forced smile. "Why would anything be wrong?" Callie asked.

Arizona sighed. "I can tell that something's going on Callie. Please tell me what it is" the blonde pleaded.

Callie threw her arm across her face and groaned. "I don't want to!"

"You can tell me anything Callie" the blonde softly said as she reached out to remove the tan arm from the other woman's face.

The brunette looked at Arizona with a little sadness in her eyes. "I know. But this day started perfectly and I don't want to ruin it" she answered.

"You could never ruin it. Unless you need to leave. Because that WOULD definitely ruin it" Arizona deadpanned.

Callie chuckled a little. "I don't have to leave, don't worry." The brunette sighed. "A year ago today Mark told me he wanted a divorce. I only just realized it as I looked at the date on my phone."

Arizona's face fell and before she could even begin trying to hide it, Callie reached out and cupped her cheek. "It's not that I'm sad he did or anything. It just hurts a little to think about it. This day last year was one of the worst days of my life" the brunette softly stated.

The blonde could literally hear her plan of having sex with her girlfriend today flush down the toilet. Today was NOT the day. Even though Arizona desperately wanted to change the other woman's perception of April 27th, having sex with her was not the way to do it.

Arizona smiled sympathetically at her girlfriend. "It's okay. I get it Callie." The blonde reached up and took the caramel hand currently resting on her cheek. "I really want to be with you today and help you get the best day possible. But if you at any point need a minute to yourself, just let me know."

The brunette leaned over and connected her lips with Arizona's in the gentlest kiss the blonde had ever received. Then she pulled back and looked into blue eyes. "Thank you. I really just want to hang out with you all day. Like we planned to."

The blonde pecked plump lips. "Then that's what we'll do."

* * *

Callie was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. In a last attempt to lift the brunette's spirits, Arizona had pulled put her old photo albums. Now they were sitting on the living room floor, breezing through the blonde's teenage-looks. And when they'd reached Arizona's Goth period Callie just couldn't help herself. Because even though the other woman stood there with black hair, lots of makeup, dark clothes and a frown on her face she still oozed positivity. And the combination was just ridiculous to the brunette.

Arizona pouted playfully as her girlfriend laughed. She was so happy to see Callie like this. Throughout the day the brunette had been a little withdrawn even though she'd practically glued herself to the blonde all day and the only time the two of them didn't have any type of physical contact was when one of them needed to use the bathroom. After their late dinner the blonde decided that she needed to pull out the big guns to try and make Callie forget about the date. Hence the photo albums.

As the brunette's laughed died down she leaned over and kissed her girlfriend. She softly sucked on the blonde's lower lip before leaning back a little and resting her forehead against Arizona's. "Thank you" she breathed out in a whisper.

The blonde smiled at the other woman "For what?"

"For being you. For being patient with me today" Callie gently let out, before holding up the photo album "but mostly for showing me this! It is epic, Arizona" the brunette said and started laughing a little again.

Arizona snatched the album from caramel hands. "Oooookay, why don't we save the rest of this for another time" the blonde said.

Callie laughed and picked up another album. As she flipped through the pages it became clear that this was from the blonde's early years. She paused at a picture of Arizona sitting on a man's shoulders as a woman and a young boy stood next to them looking up at the laughing girl. "Is this you with your dad, mom and Tim?" the brunette asked adoringly.

The blonde leaned over and looked at the picture. "Yeah it is. We went to Atlanta for the summer that year. I'm a little older than two and a half and Tim is almost four."

The brunette smiled and reached out to grab an ivory hand without taking her eyes of the picture. "You're the cutest thing ever. You really need to have kids someday Arizona, because they would no doubt be the most adorable creatures to ever walk this planet!" Callie exclaimed.

Arizona intertwined their fingers and looked as her girlfriend slowly traced the outline of a toddler-Arizona with her free hand while the album rested in her lap. "Deal. But I vote we get a little brown haired baby as well, because that one would undoubtedly give his or her sister or brother a run for the money in the 'most-adorable-creature-on-the-planet' contest" the blonde said softly as she squeezed a tan hand.

Callie tore her eyes from the photo album and looked at her girlfriend who stared back at her lovingly. "Really? Because I think I like that plan" the brunette breathed out as she leaned in and placed a soft but lingering kiss on pink lips. When they parted Callie couldn't hold back a yawn as it escaped her mouth.

Arizona chuckled. "Come on. Let's go to bed. This day has understandably been a little rough on you and we can talk about this again sometime in the future. But yes, really Callie."

The brunette pulled the other woman to her in a hug and then connected their lips in a breathtaking kiss. Callie sighed when her tongue made contact with Arizona's. The blonde made the brunette happier than she ever thought possible. This time last year she was crying helplessly into Erica's shoulder and here she was only a year later with this incredible woman, who'd just made her heart swell by telling her that she wanted to have kids with her one day.

When they finally tore their lips from each other Callie looked at the blonde. "You are marvelous. I'm just…I'm so grateful you're mine!" the brunette said with sincerity.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "And I'm grateful you're mine. Now go get ready for bed and I'll join you in a minute" the blonde said as she patted sweats-clad caramel thighs.

Callie rose form her seat on the floor and bent down to kiss an ivory cheek before turning around and making her way to the bathroom.

* * *

The weekend had gone by so fast. Even though she'd felt a little down yesterday, Callie had enjoyed every second she spent with the blonde these past days, and she couldn't believe it was already Sunday evening. She stood in the blonde's kitchen rinsing the dinner dishes when two hands brushed her jean clad ass before ivory arms circled her waist and a soft kiss was placed on the fabric of her t-shirt between her shoulder blades.

Callie smiled. "Hey you. Did you pick a movie yet?" she asked the blonde while rinsing the last of the plates.

Arizona hummed against her girlfriend's back. "Yes! We're watching 'She's All That'."

The brunette groaned. "Are you serious? What is up with you and those teen movies?" Callie asked as she leaned down and put the plate in the dishwasher.

The blonde let go of her girlfriend and greeted her with a dimpled smile when she straightened back up. "Don't tell me you don't remember how those movies made you believe in true love. And it's a wonderful story. It shows that everyone is beautiful" Arizona added.

Callie grabbed an ivory hand and dragged the other woman to the couch. "Yeah, but it also shows that no one will give the not-so-obviously-beautiful people a second glance until they have a make-over and get to hang out with the cool gang" the brunette deadpanned as she gestured for the blonde to sit down in one end of the couch before she herself lay down and put her head in the blonde's lap. Arizona wore short jean shorts and Callie's cheek connected with the soft exposed skin on the other woman's thighs.

Arizona smiled as she ran her hand through soft brown hair and reached for the remote. "I know. But I still like the idea of everyone being beautiful. It really helped me during high school" the blonde stated.

The brunette snorted a little at that. "Yeah, like you haven't always been breathtakingly beautiful" Callie said softly.

Pink lips placed a loving kiss of brown locks before she whispered. "Nobody has ever made me feel as beautiful as you do. And you've seen the pictures of me as a teenager; I was so not beautiful."

Callie laughed at the other woman's words. "We can easily agree that you sometimes looked ridiculous, but that doesn't mean you weren't beautiful."

Arizona kissed brown locks one last time and rested her head back against the couch just as Rachael Leigh Cook threatened to spit in Kieran Culkin's juice.

* * *

When 'She's All That' was over Callie rose from her spot on the blonde's lap. "Okay, my turn to pick. And it WILL be something from this decade." The brunette warned and reached for the remote but Arizona stopped her.

"Actually do you mind if we just go to bed? I'm kind of tired and I have to get up early tomorrow to go to the gym" the blonde softly said.

A wave of disappointment hit Callie and she glanced at the time on the TV; 7.43 pm. That was early. Even on other nights when Arizona had to get up at 4.30 am the next day to work out Callie couldn't remember the blonde ever going to bed this early.

"Okay" Callie said and moved away from the blonde. "You go get ready for bed, and I'll turn off the lights and everything out here."

Arizona smiled and pecked plump lips. "Thank you. I'll see you in the bedroom." And then the blonde left the living room.

Callie sat on the couch for a minute. She was kind of confused. Personally she really liked their movie nights and Arizona had never ever expressed that they bored her. But going to bed at 7.43 had to mean that the blonde found them just that.

The brunette sighed and stood up. She turned off the lights in the living room and the kitchen before making her way towards the bedroom.

"Why aren't you changed yet?" Callie asked with furrowed brows as she entered and saw Arizona sitting on the bed still in her clothes.

The blonde wordlessly rose on her knees on the bed. With her eyes glued to Callie's she reached down, grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head leaving her in a bra and her jean shorts.

Callie eyed the other woman's strong torso and the swell of the ivory breasts that were hidden underneath a mint colored lacy bra. Then she watched as the blonde reached down and unbuttoned her shorts. Ever so slowly she then pulled down the zipper and the brunette could see a pair of matching mint green lacy panties peek through. When the blonde put her hands on each side of the shorts Callie willed herself to move.

In two strides her hands were on the blonde's and she looked into blue eyes that once again had taken on the unique color of a mixture between cerulean and cobalt that the brunette had seen a lot lately. "What are you doing?" Callie asked even though the look in the other woman's eyes told her everything she needed to know.

Arizona freed her hands from her shorts and Callie's hands and reached up to cup the taller woman's cheeks. She leaned in a nuzzled her nose gently against the brunette's. "I desperately want to have sex with you Calliope. All of a sudden I feel like we've been waiting forever and I'm SO ready. Please tell me, you're ready too."

As she finished she captured the brunette's lips with her own and Callie gasped at the intensity of the kiss. Not able to answer the blonde with words the brunette's hands started to pull down the other woman's shorts and she felt Arizona's hands move from the side of her head to the hem of her shirt. Their lips left each other for a second before reuniting as the shirt had made its way over Callie's head.

The brunette pushed the blonde back gently and lay down on top of her, their lips never leaving each other. The blonde's hands were working the button on Callie's jeans. When she'd opened the button she lowered the zipper. And then she couldn't help herself. Instead of trying to get Callie out of the jeans she slowly shoved her hand inside the other woman's pants and cupped her center over her panties.

Callie let out a surprised gasp that was instantly replaced with a moan as Arizona slid her finger ever so slowly up the brunette's panty covered slit ending at her swollen bundle of nerves. The brunette pulled back from the kiss. "Shit Arizona! Are you sure? Because you have no idea how much you turn me on and I desperately want you to continue what you're doing down there! So if we're going to stop, you need to tell me now." Callie tenderly stated.

Arizona pulled her hand out of Callie's jeans and started pushing them down as she smiled at the brunette. "I want you" the blonde said as she continued sliding the pants down caramel legs. She squeezed the panty covered butt on the way and when she couldn't reach any further down, Callie sat up a little and pushed her jeans the rest of the way herself. The blonde's eyes were glued to Callie's body and the red bra and panties covering the most intimate parts.

Callie then sat up on her knees and reached behind herself to unclasp her bra. She slowly slid the straps down her arms and finally removed the clothing to expose two caramel breasts for the blonde to see. The brunette watched Arizona swallow as Callie hooked her thumbs on either side of her panties and steadily glided them down. When they were at her knees she stopped giving the blonde a chance to take her in.

The blonde was totally captivated by the heavenliness before her. Naked Callie had got to be the most entrancing thing Arizona had ever seen, and she couldn't wait to feel the other woman's soft skin. She reached out and pulled the taller woman down on top of her again. Callie caught herself by planting her arms on either side of Arizona's face. "Now you" the brunette whispered as Arizona softly caressed her tanned waist.

It took all of the blonde's willpower to remove her hands from the goddess before her. But she arched her back lightly to unclasp her bra and quickly got rid of it. Then she reached down and removed her panties. Callie used the time to shimmy all the way out of her panties as well and the two of them were now completely naked. The brunette took a minute to just admire Arizona as she lay back against the sheets. Her breasts were pale and had perfect pink nipples. Her firm stomach led to a perfectly shaved pubic area and Callie could see a slight glistening on the other woman's labia. She diverted her gaze to the woman's flawless face. Blonde hair was strewn across the pillow and Callie smiled tenderly at the other woman. "Good God, you are so beautiful, Arizona. You've got to be the most beautiful woman in this world."

Arizona reached up and pulled Callie's face to her own. "No I'm not. You are Calliope" the blonde whispered before connecting her lips with Callie's. The kiss was tentative, slow and exploring. They had time and they weren't going to rush this.

The brunette pulled back and locked her eyes on Arizona. "Promise me, you'll let me know if I do anything you're not comfortable with." The blonde just nodded her reply and swallowed before saying hoarsely "You too."

With that Callie started to kiss the blonde's neck. Soft moans spilled from pink lips and as Callie sucked on the spot right behind the other woman's ear, Arizona arched her back making her naked breasts connect with Callie's for a second forcing a sexy growl from pink lips.

Callie herself moaned at the contact and started kissing her way down the blonde's neck and her chest until pausing when she reached ivory mounds. Two hands tangled in her brown hair and a soft "please" was whispered with ragged breath.

The brunette smiled and leaned down sucking a pink nipple in to her mouth. She flicked it with her tongue a couple of times before sucking gently on it. The woman beneath her was writing in satisfaction and tugged slightly at Callie's hair making the brunette moan. She flattened her tongue and dragged it across the nipple before moving to the other breast. As she gave that breast the same attention she reached up with one of her hands and softly played with the still slightly wet nipple of the free breast.

"Fuck, don't stop. It feels so good" Arizona whimpered. She was currently in heaven. No one had ever known how to give her such pleasure just from caressing her breasts.

The cry of pleasure from the blonde spurred Callie on, and she removed her hand from the breast and steadily let it slide down towards Arizona's abdomen. She softly traced toned stomach muscles and smiled as she felt them flex because of the touch. As she reached the blonde's belly button uncertainty crept up on her for just a second, and she paused all of her ministrations on the blonde's stomach. She had no idea what she was going to do once she reached the blonde's center. She'd never ever done this to anyone other than herself.

Arizona sensed Callie's hesitation and pulled at the other woman's head signaling that she wanted her to release her nipple. Brown eyes looked up into blue. "What's wrong Calliope?" Arizona lowly asked panting and with a heaving chest.

The brunette took in the state of the other woman and she was both proud and enthralled by the fact that this was her doing. "I just got a whiff of performance anxiety. Because I've never done this before. What if you don't like it or I can't make you come Arizona?" Callie vulnerably asked.

Arizona's eyes went wide as she smiled. "Are you freaking kidding me? You could've made me come just by continuing those touches to my breasts. You already make me feel so good Callie, and I know that no matter what you do down there, you'll continue to make me feel good. Because you make me feel safe and desired. I'm positive you won't do a thing that will bring me anything but pleasure."

Callie moved up the blonde's body and connected her lips with Arizona's. At the same time she slowly let her index finger slide through the other woman's folds. The amount of wetness she found there surprised the brunette and turned her on to no end. Arizona moaned into her mouth and sucked on her tongue making Callie feel brave.

The brunette let her moist finger travel up to the blonde's clit and pressed the engorged nub before rubbing it gently eliciting a long and hoarse moan from the blonde woman beneath her. Callie continued to kiss Arizona while she caressed her clit.

"Oh, that feels fucking incredible" the blonde murmured against plump lips. The brunette smiled at the comment. She loved how Arizona verbalized her satisfaction during this, and she really hoped that it wasn't just for Callie's benefit this first time. Because verbal Arizona was hot as hell.

Callie stopped her caresses of the clit, and slid her finger back down to the blonde's opening. She pulled back from the kiss and looked into Arizona's blue eyes as she gathered some moisture on her finger before gently pushing it inside the blonde's core.

Arizona closed her eyes in pleasure as the brunette softly and ever so slowly massaged her inner walls with her finger. Then she felt another digit being added and she opened her eyes, reached up and pulled Callie to her in a frantic and searing kiss. Their tongues dueled as Callie started a slow rhythm, thrusting gently in and out of the blonde. She eventually picked up the pace and her thumb found the other woman's clit and started massaging it at the same time.

"Shiiiiiiit, don't stop!" Arizona let out as she released Callie's lips and arched her back. Her arms were flailing around her and she reached out for anything to hold on to. The brunette made her feel so incredible good and Arizona never wanted it to end but at the same time she couldn't wait to reach her high.

Callie was completely captivated by making the blonde feel this amount of pleasure. Every time she did something new that obviously heightened the pleasure, she just wanted to add something else. Plump lips once again found a nipple and the sucking and licking on the pink bud matched the pace of her fingers working on the blonde's clit and pumping in and out of her dripping wet core.

Arizona let out a deep sexy growl that Callie had never heard the likes of before when her lips closed around the erect nipple, and the brunette felt as one of the blonde's legs hooked around the back of her thigh allowing Callie to thrust into her even deeper. Ivory hands snaked around her back and clawed frantically at the brunette's backside. Callie was sure she would get scratch marks but she didn't care one bit. The brunette felt the muscles in her arm start to burn, but the sound of the blonde in the throes of passion underneath her made the pain seem so insignificant. The air was thick with the scent of arousal and Callie knew that it was a mixture of her own and the blonde's. Sweat had started trickling down both women and the glistening of ivory skin made Arizona even more beautiful to Callie.

The blonde couldn't remember ever feeling this good in her entire life. The brunette's fingers inside her were pure magic and the softness of the other woman's lips on her nipple was indescribable. It was like her body was on fire and Callie was EVERYWHERE. A familiar tingling began in her lower abdomen and ever so slowly started to spread. The blonde reached down and pulled Callie up for an aggressive, passionate yet sweet kiss.

"Oh God…Uh, I'm gonna…uuuh fuck it feels sooo…I'm going to…" the blonde murmured against plump lips. The brunette pulled back from the kiss completely and watched as the blonde threw her head back in pleasure. Her mouth was wide open and moans and whimpers left her mouth, slowly growing in intensity and volume. The brunette picked up the pace pumping harder and faster in and out of the blondes dripping wet center.

Callie felt as the other woman's muscles started to contract and the entirety of the blonde's body tensed up. "OH GOD CALLIOPE" Arizona screamed as her muscles clenched tightly around the brunette's fingers. Callie watched in awe as the blonde's face contorted in pure orgasmic bliss. She knew in that second that this would forever be her favorite look on Arizona. It was mesmerizing. And it was all because of her.

Arizona felt like her insides were being ripped apart as her orgasm surged through her. Light exploded behind her eyelids and she felt herself dangerously close to losing consciousness. It was like her heart threatened to stop beating while at the same time beating harder and faster than ever before. She'd never ever come like this. It was an orgasm like no other. It was long, amazing and powerful and Arizona could practically feel the meaning of this particular orgasm in every single contraction of her muscles. She'd never felt anything like this before. And it was all because of Callie.

As she came down she kept her eyes closed for a couple of seconds before opening them and staring straight into admiring dark brown ones. Arizona smiled while still trying to catch her breath. "You are amazing Calliope. Truly and utterly amazing."

The brunette smiled and leaned down to peck still gasping pink lips. Her fingers were still buried deep inside the other woman. "No you are. That was easily the most beautiful sight ever. And I can't wait to see it again." Callie slowly removed her soaking wet fingers from the confines of the blonde's core. The blonde whimpered at the loss and the brunette casually dried her hand on the sheets as she leaned down to kiss her girlfriend's swollen lips again.

When Arizona gained some of her energy back, she pulled herself from the kiss and gently flipped them over. "You don't get to see it again yet though. Because I've been waiting what feels like forever to worship you like you deserve" the blonde spoke adoringly.

The blonde took a while to just look at the miraculous woman lying beneath her. The brunette bit her lower lip at the intensity of Arizona's gaze. "Don't look at me like that" Callie breathed out at last.

"Why not? You're fucking gorgeous! I'll look at you however I wish to for as long as I want" Arizona exclaimed with a crooked smile.

Callie giggled a little. "Okay then."

The blonde smiled and bent down to capture plump lips. She traced her tongue across a soft lower lip and was instantly granted access to her girlfriend's mouth. She took her time to explore the other woman's mouth before slowly pulling back.

"I've never seen anybody as gorgeous as you. You're so unbelievably stunning. And you never get to wear clothes again" Arizona finished her statement with a dimpled smile.

The brunette chuckled. "Then I'm quitting my job! Because I'm not walking around Hollywood naked!"

Arizona smiled lovingly at Callie. "I'm all for that. Then we can just do this all day every day. Because I'm absolutely sure that I'll never ever get enough of you Calliope."

"I love that you do that" the brunette softly said as she reached up and traced pink lips with her thumb.

The blonde reveled in the touch for a second. "Do what?"

Callie smiled and moved up to peck the pink lips her fingers traced a second earlier. She was slightly surprised as she tasted something new on those lips and she knew instantly that it was the taste of the blonde's arousal that her fingers had to have left. The taste kind of made Callie look forward to sliding her tongue up the blonde's slit some day. "Ever since I entered the bedroom tonight you've only called me Calliope. And I really like that. Not only does the name sound so much better coming from you, but it makes this feel extra special" the brunette said as tears rose in her eyes.

Arizona smiled tentatively down at Callie. "I didn't even realize I was doing it. But I get what you mean. And it IS extra special" the blonde said before leaning down and kissing the brunette. The kiss got heated pretty fast and Arizona couldn't help herself as she reached up and rubbed one of her girlfriend's nipples between her thumb and index finger. This made the brunette shift a little and one of Arizona's thighs fell between caramel legs and made contact with the brunette's throbbing center.

"Oooh SHIT" Callie exclaimed loudly at the pleasure that shot through her.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend and pressed her thigh against the brunette's core once again, eliciting a long, drawn out moan. "You like that, huh?" the blonde softly asked

The brunette stared at her girlfriend and Arizona was instantly captivated. Callie's eyes had taken on a shade of dark brown that the blonde had never seen the likes of before. "It's sensational" Callie let out with a raspy voice.

Arizona slowly let her hand slide down a caramel torso and connect with the brunette's center. The two women gasped in unison at the feeling. "You're so wet Calliope" Arizona breathed out as she felt the amount of liquid spilling onto her fingers from the brunette's opening.

Callie closed her eyes. "It's all you. Watching you come and then having you touch me do all sorts of things to me, Arizona." The brunette sighed in satisfaction as Arizona ever so slowly traced her finger up her slit. Callie was 100% sure she'd never been this wet or this turned on in her life. She felt like she couldn't even remember her last name at this point.

Arizona was in awe at the beauty of her girlfriend in this moment. She very clearly liked what Arizona was doing to her. A sheen of sweat had once again gathered across her forehead and her face was tense yet relaxed at the same time. The blonde leaned down and covered plump lips with her own as she thrust a finger inside the brunette's welcoming core.

This caused Callie to moan appreciatively into the kiss. Arizona drove her finger in and out a few times before adding another digit. She kept a slow pace while kissing Callie ferociously. The mixture between the passionate kiss and the slow thrusting of the blonde's finger almost made Callie see stars. So many emotions were rushing through her before her mind went completely blank. All that existed right now was her and Arizona.

The blonde felt Callie stop reciprocating the kiss and pulled back in concern. She kept her fingers inside her girlfriend but halted her movements. The brunette's eyes instantly shot open when Arizona stopped her actions and her orbs connected with the hesitant blue eyes of Arizona. "Does it feel okay? You want me to do something else" the blonde asked vulnerably.

The brunette reached up and pulled her girlfriend to her by her neck, connecting their lips in an intense kiss. "Okay? It feels better than anything ever has before. You literally make my brain shut down. Please don't change a thing" Callie softly said when she pulled back from the kiss and rested their foreheads together.

Arizona smiled and leaned down to kiss Callie one last time before she started sliding her fingers in and out of Callie's throbbing center again as she moved her head from her girlfriend's grasp and started slowly and sensually licking a path from the crook of the brunette's neck and all the way to her ear. "You're so fucking hot like this Calliope" she whispered in Callie's ear before biting down on her earlobe.

The brunette whimpered at the feeling and gasped as she felt the palm of the blonde's hand hit her clit briefly. "Shit. Do that again. That was soooo good" Callie breathed out, and threw her head to the side to make room for Arizona to assault her neck.

The blonde smiled and sucked on the other woman's neck while once again letting the palm of her hand trace the brunette's clit as she slowly picked up the pace of her thrusting.

"Arizoooo…oh God…don't…you…can't leave a mark" Callie finally got out.

"I won't. I promise" Arizona whispered against a caramel neck. The brunette tasted salty from the sweat that covered her neck, but the taste was still so uniquely Callie.

Arizona moved her mouth down to Callie's breasts and traced her tongue around an erect nipple and at the same time she let her palm rest against the other woman's clit rubbing it in small circles while still driving her fingers in and out of her girlfriend's core. Then the blonde let her lips close around the nipple and sucked while she gently bit down.

The brunette arched her back in pleasure. She felt herself hurtling towards an orgasm that was bound to be more satisfying that anything she'd ever experienced before. "I'm really close. Please don't stop. It feels so incredibly good" Callie panted out.

The blonde felt the brunette's muscles start to clench a little around her fingers. She tore her lips from her girlfriend's nipple and leaned up to look down at the other woman. "Let go Calliope" Arizona softly said as she placed a kiss on the corner of a wide open mouth.

Callie whimpered once before arching her back almost to the point of sitting up while gripping the sheets tightly as her orgasm hit her. "FUUUUUUUUUUCK" she exclaimed vociferously as wave after wave of pleasure rushed over her. Everything behind her eyelids turned black and the brunette had no idea what was up or down. The sheer pleasure of the moment caused tears to spring to her eyes and she barely registered as a soft arm wrapped around her back catching her and steadily lowering her back down to the sheets when her whole body went limp.

Arizona couldn't help herself as she leaned down and placed a kiss between two heaving caramel breasts. Then she slowly pulled her fingers from Callie's core making the brunette groan at the loss. The blonde shifted her weight to both her arms and hovered over Callie. Her girlfriend still had her eyes closed as she tried to catch her breath and she looked more relaxed in this moment than Arizona had ever seen her before. The other woman was so beautiful and Arizona had no idea how to express to the brunette how breathtaking she found her.

As Callie slowly came down from her orgasm she felt a single tear make its way down her cheek. Her first time with Arizona had exceeded anything she'd ever imagined. It had been so full of trust and devotion and it had been absolutely perfect to Callie.

"Please don't cry" Arizona whispered as she bent down and kissed away the tear that had escaped brown eyes.

The brunette opened her eyes and looked at the blue orbs of her girlfriend. "Those are nothing but happy tears, I promise. I'm sorry, I don't know what's happening" Callie said a little embarrassed.

Arizona smiled and leaned down to nuzzle her nose against a tanned one. "Don't. Don't be embarrassed. It was all really emotional for me too" the blonde said with a little crack to her voice. "I'm blown away by the fact that I could ever make you feel this good. And that you could make me feel such extraordinary pleasure. Thank you for feeling comfortable enough with me to let go like that Calliope."

Callie gave her girlfriend a smile. "You're very, very welcome. And thank you. I'm really happy we shared that. And nobody ever made me feel close to anything like you just did. It was…no words can describe it" the brunette breathed out in satisfaction.

Arizona rested her forehead against Callie's. "I know how you feel. Because I'm pretty sure you made me feel just like that as well." The blonde then softly kissed the brunette. It was slow and lazy and none of them tried to deepen it. They were content just processing what had just happened while being close to each other.

As they parted, Callie pulled Arizona down by her shoulders for a hug. The brunette inhaled the other woman's scent and couldn't help but chuckle a little. "You smell like sex, Arizona!"

The blonde kissed a caramel neck. "Well duh, Calliope. And you smell like sex to. But I have to say I really, really like it." With one last kiss to her girlfriends neck Arizona pulled back an eased off the other woman.

Arizona then rested on her side facing Callie who turned her head and looked at the blonde. "Are you really going to go to the gym tomorrow morning" Callie asked delicately.

Arizona brushed a lock of sweaty hair from the other woman's face. "Of course not. I'm going to enjoy having your glorious naked body pressed up against mine for as long as possible. This was an important night Callie, and I want to wake up with you tomorrow and bask in the glory of it until we have to go to work. I just told you that to lure you into bed with me" the blonde aimed a dimpled smile and a wink at Callie.

The brunette chuckled a little. "Well it worked!" Then she turned serious. "Thank you for not leaving me at 4.30 tomorrow morning" Callie stated and leaned over for a soft kiss.

Arizona readily welcomed the plump lips. "You don't need to thank me Callie. This was really significant to me too" she murmured against the other woman's lips.

Callie pulled back a little. "It was life changing" she added with a small smile.

"It was indeed" Arizona replied. "Not to mention earth shattering. I can't wait to find out what you can do once you get a little practice" the blonde teased with a smirk.

"Pff, I don't need practice, I'm clearly a natural" Callie teased back.

Arizona laughed a little. "True. You were born to do it."

The brunette was silent for a minute before saying "I think I was just born to do you."

The blonde chuckled and moved to pull the covers from the foot of the bed. She rested her head on her girlfriend's chest and pulled the duvets over them. "You're a goof. But you can definitely do me any time you want" Arizona said and turned to place a kiss on Callie's collar bone.

"Good. Because I can assure you that I'll want to do it again. Preferably soon" Callie stated.

Arizona looked up at her girlfriend. "I really want to do it again soon too. Actually I may have been a little presumptuous and already set my alarm an hour early tomorrow to have time to do it again before we go into work" the blonde spoke with a slight blush to her cheeks.

Callie smiled softly at the other woman. "That sounds incredible. I'm totally up for that. You can be presumptuous as often as you want."

The blonde smiled happily and leaned up to capture plump lips in a chaste kiss. "Awesome. Sweet dreams Calliope" Arizona said lovingly as she intertwined her legs with the brunette's underneath the duvet and snuggled even closer to her girlfriend.

"Sweet dreams Arizona" Callie replied sleepily and tightened her hold on the blonde before slowly drifting off.

 **So there you have it – sexy times happened! And boy did I struggle with writing this :O I've never written anything close to something like that before and I felt it was all kind of ridiculous.**

 **I really hope I didn't let you guys down, though! I can't wait to hear what you thought of it :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	23. Chapter 23

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys!**

 **I feel like I have to do this much too frequently; but my heart goes out to all affected by the incident in Bangladesh on Friday/Saturday! :( How I wish the world was a safer and better place to live filled with more love than it currently is!**

 **On a happier not; Happy Independence Day to all you Americans (and happy anniversary to our favorite Sara!) I hope you really enjoy it! :) Stay safe!**

 **Quickly on the EUROs: Good God, Germany vs. Italy has to be one of the most boring matches ever played! To me none of those teams deserved a spot in the semifinals – it was like they didn't even want to play football! Germany needs to up their game if they're going to stand a chance against France!  
And too bad Iceland :/ You've done so well, but sadly this was your stop! France was just too big of a task. But you Icelanders should be so proud of those lads! **

**Thank you everyone for your many encouraging and amazing reviews for chapter 22. I'm extremely relieved that you liked it! :D It means a lot to me, and I now feel more confident about the other chapters containing sexy times for our girls ;)**

 **To the guest who sneaked in a Danish 'thank you' in his/her review: You are AWESOME! It means a lot that you've taken notice of my origin and have spent time looking it up on Google translate ;P Also thank you for your kind words for me and my story. And I totally understand if you had the world's biggest hangover after celebrating the Welsh semifinal! I know I would too had it been Denmark.**

 **To BattleshipArizona: Lol! Thank you - I'm glad you liked it. Because it was in fact my very first time writing something like that and I was a little worried that it was too clinical - but apparently that wasn't the case for you! ;)**

 **To jolynn15: You probably weren't the only one who counted on that – but that would just have been a bit to cheesy for my liking! :P**

 **To Beachii92: OMG! THANK YOU for your very kind words – words like those make me thankful I decided to do and share this story! And to answer your question, then no, I've never written anything non-fictional before this. Well other than in my Danish classes in school (which I aced!).**

 **I guess it's the perfect opportunity to let you guys know some personal info about me; I majored in journalism in college. And to go to journalism school in Denmark you have to go through an admission test where they test your writing skills. Well among other things such as common knowledge and Danish grammar. I got an A+ on my writing skills in that part of the test. And then I spend the next six years in undergrad and grad school taking mandatory classes that advanced and perfected my writing. My point is that my writing skills are probably a product of my education mixed with some talent. And I really wish that I could do a story for you guys in Danish, because I would do so much better in my native language! ;)  
But I'm really glad you all seem to like my writing in this fanfic and that my English hasn't disappointed too much – and I've got a lot more chapters planned (and possible another fic), so don't worry! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **On to chapter 23.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

CHAPTER 23:

Callie woke to the feeling of a hand caressing her naked butt cheeks while soft kisses where placed along her spine from her ass to her neck. She opened her eyes and was met with complete darkness. "What time is it?" she rasped out.

Arizona smiled. "3.27 am" she murmured against her girlfriend's glorious back.

"Arizonaaaaa" Callie groaned as she closed her eyes again and swatted the hand on her ass away. "Please tell me you're not waking me up in the middle of the night, AGAIN, to have sex with me" the brunette scolded her girlfriend.

The blonde lay down fully on top of Callie's back pressing her naked front against the other woman. "I can't help it. You're amazing" she whispered huskily in a caramel ear and placed a kiss on a tanned cheek.

"And you're insatiable!" the brunette replied hoarsely.

Ever since having had sex with her girlfriend for the first time two weeks ago it had been Arizona's favorite way to spend her time. Being intimate with Callie was the most addictive thing Arizona had ever experienced. Every time they were together both women discovered fresh ways to take the other woman's pleasure to new heights. The way the brunette could satisfy Arizona was unreal.

The blonde chuckled against her girlfriend's ear as she gently bit down on a tanned earlobe. "Don't pretend you don't like it Calliope" Arizona sultry spoke.

Callie smiled a little and reached out to put her hand on top of an ivory one that rested on the sheets and intertwined her fingers with Arizona's. "I love it" the brunette softly whispered before adding "but I really need to go back to sleep. Because as I'm sure you remember I got back really late last night and then you seduced me and had your very dirty way with me before we went to sleep. And I have a full day of shooting today. I can't go in to work looking equally tired and freshly fucked."

Arizona growled. "I'm so glad this is the final day of shooting this season. Although I really hate that it has to be on a Sunday."

The brunette chuckled. "I know. Me too. But then I realized that it means I can spend ALL day tomorrow with you even though it's Monday. Preferably in this or a similar bed."

The blonde moved down a little and rested her cheek on the brunette's back. "I like that. And you're right. We should go back to sleep. I could probably use that extra hour until I have to get up and hit the gym with the guys for the last time this season. I'm sure Andy is going to be ruthless."

"It's not that I don't want you Arizona. I ALWAYS want you. But I really need to nail my scenes today" Callie said regretfully.

Arizona turned her head and placed a kiss between tanned shoulder blades. "I know. It's fine. Can I stay here like this, though?"

Callie squeezed the hand clutched in her own. "Of course."

"Thank you. Sweet dreams. I'm sorry I woke you up" the blonde whispered.

"It's okay. Any other day I would have welcomed being woken up like this" the brunette gently said.

The blonde reached over and pulled her duvet to her, covering the two women. "That's good to know" Arizona softly stated. "Go back to sleep Calliope." With one last kiss on her girlfriend's caramel skin the blonde closed her own eyes and reveled in the skin on skin contact before going back to sleep.

* * *

Arizona was standing off to the side of set 3 watching her girlfriend do a scene with Jackson and Andrew. It was a bar-scene and Arizona couldn't help but smile a little at the hotness of her girlfriend. She felt so honored and proud that she was the one who got to be with Callie. And the blonde became more and more accustomed to the thought of letting everybody know that the brunette was hers.

Almost simultaneously Mark and April entered the set. They both came over and stood next to her. "How are they doing?" April asked and smiled as her eyes tuned in on Jackson. The young couple was thriving and it was very clear that the ginger haired woman was really smitten with her man.

"They're doing great. I actually think they're a bit ahead of schedule" Arizona replied.

"Great!" April let out. "Jackson and I are going out tonight to celebrate that we've wrapped season 5."

Arizona smiled at her friend. A pang of jealousy hit her. She kind of wished that she'd be able to take Callie out to celebrate as well. "That's sounds really nice April."

The other woman smiled at the blonde. "Oh it definitely will be. I'm going to go change to make sure I'm ready once he finishes. I'll see you guys at the wrap party on Friday!" April said before leaving the set again.

Mark moved closer to Arizona. "Why aren't you on your way home, blondie? You're done for the season. You should hightail it out of here" the man said with a smile.

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I just walked past the set and thought I'd check out if my really unfortunate colleagues had to stay here even longer than anticipated. I'm sooo happy you and I finished early."

Mark put his arm around the blonde. "Yeah, me too. Callie always seems to draw the short end of the stick on this. She was the last one to wrap last season as well."

The blonde turned her head and smiled at Mark. "Smart move of her to force you to wait for her. That way someone shares her pain" Arizona deadpanned. Callie and Mark were going out to dinner tonight. Arizona had been kind of disappointed when Callie told her, but it seemed it was the only night it could work out. And the blonde knew she couldn't monopolize the brunette all the time. Even though she really wanted to.

"Yes she really got me on that one. But it's nice they're ahead of schedule. Maybe we'll get the chance to get out of here earlier than we thought" Mark spoke.

"Anyway I think I'm going to go now. It looks like they're nailing it so I can leave without feeling too guilty about wrapping early" Arizona said. She then turned and hugged Mark briefly. "Have fun tonight. And tell her, Mark. She'll understand, I know. Andrew really deserves it."

Mark sighed and looked at his boyfriend who was laughing with his ex-wife between takes. "I know he does. And I'll try."

Arizona patted the man's upper back before moving to leave the set. "I'll see you Friday, Mark. And you and I are definitely going to share a round of shots to celebrate the work we've done those past few months" the blonde stated.

The man chuckled at his on-screen girlfriend. "You're on, blondie!"

Then the blonde left the set with one last glance at Callie. She briefly caught the other woman's gaze and smiled softly at her.

Just as she went out through the door she almost ran straight into Teddy and Addison. "Hey guys, where are you going?" the blonde asked.

Teddy smirked. "We were looking for you actually. And we know that whenever you have the chance, you like to spend your time eye fucking Callie, so we figured we'd find you in close proximity of her."

Arizona blushed and glanced down the thankfully empty hallway. "Shut up Teddy. And don't say things like that. You never know who is close by!" the blonde scolded her friend.

"Relax, would you. I don't just blurt things like that out. I make sure we're alone before doing it" the honey-blonde stated.

The blonde sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I just get a little paranoid at times. Because I really don't want people finding out about her and me through gossip on the set."

Addison smiled at Arizona and grabbed Teddy's hand. "We know. And we get that. Anyway, we actually came to ask if you wanted to grab dinner with us? We're going home to change and then we figured we could meet you at 6?" the red head asked.

Arizona smiled brightly at her friends. "Yeah, I'd really like that. And 6 is perfect."

Teddy returned the sentiment. "We just figured you could use it tonight with Callie going to dinner with Mark and all. And we can celebrate that you and I are officially on hiatus. This one's not so lucky though" the honey-blonde said as she smiled at her fiancé, who pouted a little. "We're thinking of going to 'Barrel & Ashes' for burgers. Is that good with you?" Teddy asked.

"It sounds awesome" the blonde replied. "I'll meet you there at 6."

"Yay!" Teddy stated enthusiastically. "See you later then."

Arizona watched as the couple made their way down the hall talking and laughing as Addison playfully pinched the honey-blonde's ass and Teddy threw an arm around the red head's neck. The blonde smiled. She was so happy that the two women had fielded every storm they'd encountered these past 9 months while she'd known them. And she really looked forward to the day her and Callie could walk hand in hand next to them.

* * *

Mark and Callie entered the restaurant and were granted a table at the back of the room secluded from the other tables.

The brunette was pretty sure that she'd spotted a paparazzi photographing the two of them strolling side by side towards the restaurant, but she couldn't care less. She knew Arizona trusted her, and that was all that mattered. Then the magazines and gossip-sites could write whatever they wanted.

They ordered and talked about what they each had been up to those last months. Their food was served as Mark was telling about his own struggles with the scenes he had to shoot with Arizona.

Callie was surprised to learn that the man was afraid he'd mess up Arizona's incredible acting, but the brunette assured him, that his own acting blossomed to new heights in his work with the blonde.

Then they talked about their families and Mark laughed as Callie recounted Rei's newfound love for posting pictures with her famous big sister on Instagram.

As the laughter died down Callie looked at Mark. She'd really had fun and enjoyed her ex-husband's company these past few hours. The brunette felt really comfortable and like she could talk to him about anything in that moment. This was her chance.

"I need to tell you something, Mark. And I really need you NOT to freak out!" Callie gently exclaimed.

Mark looked at her and instantly frowned at the nervous and serious look on his ex-wife's face. "What's going on Cal? Are you okay? You're not sick or anything, are you?"

The brunette reached out and grabbed his hand across the table. "No, I'm not sick. Quite the opposite actually. I'm really, really good Mark." Callie stated with a smile. She took in a deep breath and puffed her cheeks as she exhaled slowly. "I'm dating Arizona" she softly let out.

All color instantly drained from Mark's face and he looked like he was about to throw up the delicious meal the two had just shared. He slowly withdrew his hand from the brunette's grasp as he stared at her with an empty expression. Callie felt all hope of her ex-husband understanding leaving her head. She nervously looked around the restaurant. If Mark made a scene here she would singlehandedly be responsible for outing her and Arizona to the world. Before even telling their families. She needed to do something.

Tears rose in her eyes. "Please be okay with this. I…I'm in love with her Mark. She lights up my life in the most amazing way. Don't be freaked out by it. Please."

Mark shook his head a little. He still had this indeterminable blank expression on his face. Callie gulped and opened her mouth to say more, but her ex-husband beat her to it. "How long have the two of you been dating?" Mark asked with a tone of voice that gave nothing away to Callie.

"Since the day after the Oscars. The real reason she came to my house that morning was to tell me, she wanted to be with me exclusively" Callie softly stated.

Mark's eyes widened. "That was two and a half months ago Cal!" the man exclaimed.

"I know" Callie gently said. "I've been wanting to tell you, but we decided to get comfortable with each other before telling anyone about it. For the sake of honesty, and because you and I just split up a year ago, I feel like I need to tell you that I kissed her the first time at the Christmas party. But I promise you it wasn't until after the Oscars we decided to be together for real."

The brunette looked at her ex-husband and sighed. "Apart from Addison and Teddy you're the first one to know about us, Mark. You're actually the first one I'm personally telling. I want you to know that I really treasure and respect you, and what we had together. Please don't hate me" Callie pleaded.

Mark tried to gather himself. His mind was on overdrive. The one person he'd been sort of forced to confide in now turned out to be romantically involved with the one person he was most scared to confide in. And he hadn't suspected a thing. He gazed at Callie who looked both broken, nervous and in some way relieved.

"Nothing could ever make me hate you, sweet cheeks!" Mark watched the brunette smile at the use of his nickname for her. "I'm just surprised Cal. I had NOT seen that coming! But I can tell she makes you happy. And I really want you to be just that. I don't care WHO makes you happy, I'm just glad someone does now that I couldn't be the one to do it anymore. And blondie is both beautiful and nice. She's a good catch. And so are you Callie. She's one very lucky lady" Mark said honestly and granted the brunette a small smile which was instantly returned.

"Thank you Mark" the brunette choked out. "It really means a lot to me that you feel that way."

"But you went on a date with Joshua Halls. Why?" the man then asked with furrowed brows.

Callie sighed. "I couldn't say no. If I did the paparazzo and press would hunt me ruthlessly to figure out why. And it would only have been a matter of time before some lucky idiot connected the dots when discovering that Arizona and I visited each other A LOT. I actually asked her to go public with me to avoid going on the date. But she didn't want to do that and I kind of broke up with her over it. But then she told Addison and Teddy about us and agreed to slowly tell more people. Which is why I'm telling you now. She's totally okay with that by the way" the brunette quickly added. "And now we're in such a good place. Everything is coming together and she is just amazing!" Callie said with a dreamy look.

Mark smiled. "I'm really grateful that you're happy Cal. You deserve that" the man stated with a little crack to his voice.

"Thank you Mark" Callie spoke sincerely. "I'm so glad I told you. Thank you for being okay with this!"

Mark reached over and grabbed the brunette's hand again. "Of course I'm okay with it. I'll always support you and be on your side Cal. Always. Tell me more about her and you!" the man gently demanded.

Callie smiled gratefully at the man, withdrew her hand as desert was served and started telling him more about her relationship with Arizona.

* * *

Addison, Teddy and Arizona sat at 'Barrel & Ashes'. Their food had arrived and the blonde was currently stuffing her face with a fantastic cheese burger.

"So, is she still making you scream her name every night while her fingers are buried deep inside you?" Teddy asked the blonde with a straight face.

Arizona choked on her food and started couching uncontrollably as Addison turned to her fiancé with her mouth agape. "TEDDY!" the red head let out appalled.

The honey-blonde wordlessly slid the blonde's drink closer to her coughing friend and Arizona took a big sip.

"What Addi?" Teddy asked. "Arizona's told me more times than one that that is exactly what is happening."

"Still, some people would maybe hold back a little at the brash use of words" Addison stated while chuckling in disbelief.

Teddy just shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to her blonde friend who had now almost stopped coughing. "Well Arizona, spill! Is she?"

"Yes she most definitely is" Arizona replied hoarsely with a blush on her cheeks. "Every time I seem to think that it can't possibly be better than the last time, she just somehow succeeds in taking me to new heights. It's beyond words."

Addison smiled. "For what it's worth she's every bit as satisfied with that part of your relationship as you are. She's not shy about letting me know what you accomplish to do to her once you guys are alone."

The blonde ate a French fry and smiled at the red head. "Thank you Addison. I really appreciate you saying that. I mean she's told me too, and it seems like she enjoys it. A LOT. But I can't help but still doubt my abilities sometimes. She was with Mark for TEN years. He must have known her body better than his own. There's no way he didn't know how to make her see stars. Every. Single. Time" Arizona softly said.

Teddy was surprised at the vulnerability in her friend's voice and quickly swallowed the piece of burger she just put in her mouth. "I get where you're coming from Arizona. But here's the thing; however long she was with Mark has nothing to do with how she experiences things with you! It's possible that he knew how to press all the right buttons" Arizona let out a growl at that statement and leaned her forehead on the table making Teddy chuckle a little "but it'll never be the same when you press them. And it actually IS possible that she likes it better when you do it than when he did it" the honey-blonde gently stated as she leaned forward towards the blonde a little.

Arizona lifted her head and shrugged. "I guess you're right Teds."

"I know I am, Arizona. I had a lot of sex with a lot of guys before being with Addison…" the honey-blonde started.

"Oooohkay! I'm not sure I want to be here for this conversation" the red head interrupted with her mouth full of food.

Teddy turned her attention to her fiancé for a second and reached for her hand. "You do. Trust me on that!" the honey-blonde said with a wink before turning her attention back to Arizona.

"Like I was saying; I've had a lot of sex with a lot of guys" Addison closed her eyes and groaned "and then I met Addi. And while I was a weeping wreck the first time her and I had sex, it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. And she's by far the best lover I've ever had" the honey-blonde said softly as she placed a kiss on Addison's hand that was intertwined with her own. "I know I hadn't been with the same guy for ten years when I met her, but if Callie says she enjoys it, she means that. Don't let her past relationship with Mark be a factor in your experience of intimacy with her. Because I'm sure it's not a factor to Callie."

Arizona smiled at her friend. "Thank you Teddy. That's really good advice."

The honey-blonde shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I AM pretty good at giving advice. Okay, now tell me the details. What do you do to her?" Teddy required as she straightened up on her chair.

"Oh my God, what is wrong with you today?" Addison exclaimed with a French fry in her hand as she stared at her fiancé with wide eyes. "Why are you so interested in their sex life? Don't I keep you satisfied?" the red head asked the honey-blonde.

Teddy chuckled and leaned in to capture her fiancé's lips briefly in a both loving and passionate kiss. "Of course you do gorgeous! Like I said; you're the best I've EVER had. You're a force to be reckoned with in the bedroom. And the den. And the kitchen" the honey-blonde smirked as a barely noticeable blush appeared on the red head's cheeks. "It's just that I remember how confusing yet amazing this time was. And I could have needed someone to talk it over with. I'm just offering that to Arizona."

"Well a little word of advice, Teds; you should work on the way you present the opportunity to 'talk it over'" Arizona chuckled before adding. "And I really don't think this is the place to share such intimate details."

"Boohoo" Teddy pouted. "You're no fun!"

Arizona laughed at the expression on the honey-blonde's face. "I know you don't really know the meaning of the term 'private' Teds, but to me some things are. Like the details of my new and exploring sexlife with Callie. This converstaion has only proved to me, that you know more than enough. At least for now. And when I do tell you all about it, we're not going to be sitting at a public restaurant. Because I'm sure you won't be able to handle it" the blonde stated with a wink at her friend.

"Oh please!" Teddy said as she waved her hands in the air. "If you knew what Addison did to me, you'd know for sure that I'd be able to handle it" the honey-blonde said with confidence.

The red head next to her pulled Teddy a little closer "Let it go, sweetie" Addison said before kissing the honey-blonde's cheek.

Teddy sighed. "Fiiiiine" the honey blonde said before reluctantly letting the subject go and focusing on the last of her burger.

Arizona smiled. "I'm going to tell you Teddy. Apart from Callie and Tim, you're my best friend. And I'll want to share it with you sometime. Trust me."

The honey-blonde smiled back. "You're my best friend too. Apart from this awesome mood-killer here, of course" Teddy said as she pointed her thumb in Addison's direction. "And I'll be here, when you're ready."

With that the honey-blonde rose from her seat. "I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick."

When Teddy left the table Addison looked at Arizona with a serious face. "I've actually been meaning to thank you Arizona" the red head said as she took a sip of her drink.

The blonde smiled at Addison in confusion. "Why?"

Addison smiled at the woman across from her. "You make her really, really happy. After Mark left her, I had no idea what to do to pull her from the misery that surrounded her. But then you came along. And gradually you made her forget that her world had collapsed around her. And now she's happier than I ever had the hopes of seeing her again."

The blonde felt tears well in her eyes at the other woman's heartfelt words. "Thank you Addison. She makes me really happy too. Every day I fall more and more in love with her. She's perfect."

The red head smiled at Arizona. "You should tell her, you know. That you love her. If possible that'll make her even happier" Addison finished as Teddy came back to the table.

As the honey-blonde sat down she noticed the tears in her friend's eyes. "What's wrong Arizona?" Teddy questioned as she turned towards Addison. "What the hell did you say to her, Addi?" she asked her fiancé accusingly.

"Okay, you seriously need to calm down a little. What's going on with you? And you know I LOVE fiery, passionate and protective Teddy, but trust me when I say that there's no reason whatsoever to pull her out now" Addison said before leaning in and pressing her lips to Teddy's.

As they parted, the honey-blonde looked at her fiancé skeptically before turning her gaze to the blonde for confirmation.

Arizona chuckled. "She's right Teds. You can reel the temper back in!"

Teddy smiled. "Great. And it's just because I'm really excited and happy. My best friend and my fiancé's best friend have fallen in love, creating one of the most perfect couples I've ever known. As off today I'm on summer hiatus from my work, that I really love I might add" the honey-blonde then turned and looked at Addison with love and adoration before reaching up to caress her cheek "and in just a short couple of months I get to marry the most stunning, most admirable, most loveable woman in the entire world. And I can't wait!"

Addison smiled and leaned in to kiss Teddy. When they parted the red head nuzzled the honey-blonde's nose. "I can't wait either."

Arizona smiled at the unmistakable happiness of her friends. Addison kept nuzzling Teddy's nose as she obviously whispered loving words for only the honey-blonde to hear as Teddy smiled even bigger while she continued to caress the red head's cheek.

A few minutes later Addison pulled back and turned her full attention back to Arizona. "Sorry about that. Are you meeting up with Callie later?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nice that you're so in love. And yes, I am" the blonde answered with a smile.

"Yeah I figured you'd probably want to spend your first day off together. Do you think she's going to tell Mark about the two of you tonight?" the red head asked.

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. She might. If the chance presents itself. It's not important to me. I just hope they find their way back to each other a little bit. Being close to both of them it's become painfully obvious to me how important they are to each other. They need to be friends. More than they realize" the blonde reasoned.

Addison looked at Arizona with an impressed look. "Wow, you're really cool with the fact that your girlfriend is currently having dinner with her ex-husband. Without even demanding that she tells him she's with you" the red head said in awe.

"I don't need him to know. I trust her. And there's no doubt in my mind that she wants to be with me. Plus I'm also certain that Mark doesn't want her back in any way. They're two friends having dinner. But they've kind of drifted apart, understandably, and I think the best thing that could possibly happen tonight is the two of them getting closer to each other again. For ten years they told each other almost everything, and I'm not saying they should again, but from what I've gathered they worked really well as friends. And I don't think they should throw that away just because they're not married anymore" Arizona reasoned.

Teddy squinted her eyes at the blonde. "You know something we don't!" the honey-blonde said with assurance.

"What? No. Why do you think that?" Arizona said with her best questioning poker face.

"She's got Addison. Why do you need her to be best buds with Mark?" Teddy asked suspiciously.

The blonde could feel the palms of her hands get sweaty. "I know. And Addison is great. And Callie's closest friend. You've become increasingly important to her during this, Addison. I want you to know that. But when she talks of her and Mark I can just tell that she misses the friendship she had with him. He gets her in a way that the three of us don't. I don't know if it's because he's a guy or if it's because he's been in her life for so long, but he's important to her too" Arizona finished.

Addison smiled at the blonde. "Don't worry, I didn't take offence. And I get what you mean. It makes perfect sense to me."

Arizona almost sighed in relief. "I'm glad."

"What are you getting her for her birthday?" Addison then asked changing the subject and Arizona was very thankful for that.

"I'm not telling. And not because I think you'll tell her or anything. I just want her to be the first to know what I've gotten her" Arizona softly said. Finding a present for her girlfriend's birthday in two days had been really difficult due to the fresh state of their still developing relationship.

The red head smiled in return. "I think that's a beautiful thought. And she's the kind of person who'll really appreciate that. She's lucky to have found you Arizona" Addison said with a big smile.

Arizona couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Having had dinner with Teddy and Addison tonight had been really great. The blonde was so appreciative of the red head's kind words. Having one of Callie's best friends approve of the relationship meant the world to Arizona. Granted the blonde had very quickly become best friends with Addison's fiancé, but that didn't necessarily mean, that she deemed the blonde suitable for her own best friend.

"Thank you Addison. That really means a lot to me. You're important to Callie. And your opinion matter to her" the blonde gently replied.

Addison grinned. "Well then I'm calling her first thing tomorrow to tell her to never let you go" the red head added with a wink.

Arizona smirked. "Maybe not first thing. Because I plan on keeping her up really late tonight" the blonde said with a crooked smile.

Teddy chuckled. "You dirty, dirty girl."

"I seriously just can't keep my hands off her. And tonight I don't even want to pretend like I'm trying. We don't have to be rested for anything at all tomorrow. I find her absolutely miraculous and I treasure every time I get to show her that" the blonde said with a glazed and dreamy expression.

Teddy smiled. "Boy, you've got it bad for her."

The blonde smiled back. "Yeah. I really do. And nothing has ever made me feel more happy or more alive" Arizona breathed out.

Addison pulled out her wallet. "Tonight is on me. I'm more than happy to pay. I feel assured knowing that you've stored some energy before going home and making my best friend EXTREMELY happy." the red head smirked.

Arizona blushed profusely at the other woman's suggestive tone. "Sometimes I really hate the two of you" the blonde said with a little pout.

Teddy and Addison laughed in unison. "Oh please. It's not possible to hate us. We're adorable. Not to mention invested in our friends' wellbeing. And being sexually satisfied is a very important part of that" the honey-blonde said with a smirk and a wink at Arizona.

"While I think that IS true" Addison stated as she lovingly winked and gazed at her fiancé for a second "It's because I know that it in fact does make her extremely happy that you keep her up really late tonight doing all sorts of things to her. And that she gets to wake up and spend all day with you tomorrow. I pay, because you make her all sorts of happy Arizona. Like I told you; I'm thankful you did what I couldn't. And as her friend I'll never be able to repay you" the red head stated as she trained her grey-blue eyes on cerulean ones.

"There's absolutely no need to repay me. Getting to be with her is rewarding enough" Arizona softly said.

Addison smiled. "Good answer. Just promise me that you'll do your best to make sure she stays this happy. Because I really like happy Callie!"

"I will, don't worry. Her happiness is more important to me than my own. And I know she's told you all about the beginning of this thing between her and I. And I know that as her friend you probably hate how I treated her. But I'm done with that. I promise. All I want is to make sure she's happy with me. Now and forever. Because I don't ever want to be without her again" Arizona truthfully spoke.

"Okay. You passed the secret best friend test. You're more than worthy of her. Not that I doubted it for a second. Now go home and make her happy!" Addison said tenderly at Arizona.

The blonde rose from her seat with a big smile. "Thank you for dinner Addison. And thank you for inviting me. I think it's been really nice hanging out with you guys. Just the three of us" Arizona honestly said.

"The feeling is mutual" Teddy stated. "We'll see you Friday at the wrap party!"

"You sure will." With that Arizona made her way out the door and towards her car.

* * *

Arizona sat comfortably on Callie's couch reading, waiting for her girlfriend to come back from dinner with Mark. She had texted the brunette earlier that day letting her know, that she would be going to dinner with Teddy and Addison and would meet the other woman back at her place later that night.

Keys in the lock alerted her to the fact that the brunette was home, and Arizona rose from the couch to greet her girlfriend by the door.

Callie came through the door and smiled at the sight of her girlfriend leaning against the wall in the hall. "Hey. Have you been back long?" the brunette asked as she took of her jacket and shoes.

Arizona shook her head. "No. Half an hour or so" the blonde stated. "By the look on your face I take it dinner went well?"

The smile on Callie's face got even bigger. "It was great. We had fun and talked like we used to do. It was really nice."

The blonde stepped forward. "That's good to hear." Then she grabbed a caramel hand and dragged Callie to the kitchen. She moved to the other woman's cabinets to get out some wine glasses.

"I told him about us" Callie softly stated, effectively halting Arizona's movements.

The blonde turned around and faced the other woman. She studied her face for a second. "Oh yeah? What did he say?" Arizona hesitantly asked, her previous task of getting them some wine completely forgotten.

Callie smiled lovingly at the blonde. "He was a little shocked at first. I actually thought for a second he might have a heart attack. But it was just the revelation of it, and he is actually fine with it."

"That's nice. Did he say anything else?" Arizona questioned.

The brunette furrowed her brows in confusion. "Well only to tell you that you'd gotten yourself a magnificent specimen of a woman. Why?"

The blonde smiled. "He didn't need to tell me that, because I already knew. And for no particular reason. I was just afraid he'd be mad at me or something. He and I are friends and he might have felt betrayed with you and I being an item. You are his ex-wife after all" Arizona stated. Mark was such an idiot. She couldn't believe he hadn't taken this opportunity to tell Callie about his own relationship with Andrew. A more favorable occasion would never present itself.

The blonde was brought back to reality as a pair of velvety, plump lips covered her own in a lingering kiss. "Don't worry. He's fine with it. He seemed genuinely and truly happy for us. I'm so overjoyed to be with you and regardless of his reaction I would have continued to be. But I was with him for ten years. He's one of the people in this world that knows me best and for a long time he was my closest friend. And in this weird way it means a lot to me that he accepts this" Callie said as she pulled back.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "I know. And I'm really thankful at him for not freaking out, but just being cool with it. I feel really blessed to be with you and I don't want anything putting you or us down. Because you deserve to be happy. I want to make you happy. And if that had meant kicking some sense into Mark for being and idiot about this, I wouldn't have hesitated. But I'm really relieved I didn't have to."

The brunette laughed as she took Arizona's hand leading her towards the living room not ever really understanding why they were in the kitchen in the first place. "Yeah me too. Because I have to be straight with you; I have my doubts that you could have taken him" Callie deadpanned.

The blonde smiled and pulled at the other woman's hand willing her to stop. Then she threw her arms around her girlfriend's neck. "I don't. Because I can do anything with you in my corner, Calliope."

Arizona leaned up and connected her lips with the brunette's in a passionate kiss. Callie forced her tongue in the blonde's mouth and as the other woman moaned, the brunette reached down and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's thighs before lifting her from the ground. Arizona squealed and tore her mouth from Callie's. "What are you doing? Put me down!" the blonde exclaimed as she wrapped her legs around her girlfriend's waist and clung to the other woman.

"I'm so done talking about Mark. We hung out and it was fun. But the most satisfying part was when I told him about you. And how happy you make me." Callie said as she stared into blue eyes. "I've really missed you today Arizona. And now I want to spend the rest of the night with you. Just you and me" the brunette said seductively and looked at Arizona with lust in her eyes before leaning in and pecking pink lips. Then she attacked a perfect ivory neck with open mouthed kisses while she made her way towards the dining table. She dropped Arizona on it and moved her hands to the front of the blonde's button down shirt. As she stared into her girlfriends blue eyes she tore the other woman's shirt open, buttons flying everywhere, revealing a black see through bra. The action caused cerulean blue eyes to darken, which prompted Callie to rest her hands on the table and lean in to capture pink lips with her own.

Arizona greedily kissed her girlfriend back in a wet and frantic kiss. Teddy was right. The intimacy the two of them shared had nothing to do with the brunette's previous marriage to Mark. Her girlfriend had spent the entire night with her ex-husband. And while she'd definitely enjoyed that, she'd come home to Arizona. And she'd just very obviously picked sex with the blonde over spending the evening telling Arizona more about her night with Mark. Callie was really truly hers. And she was amazing. No words could describe how the other woman completed Arizona. In every way possible. She always seemed to know what to do to make the blonde content. Arizona pulled back to catch her breath and looked into the dark brown eyes she treasured so much. "I love you" she breathed out tenderly.

Callie's eyes and face immediately softened and the look of lust was instantly replaced with a look of devotion. "Really?" the brunette softly asked as tears sprang to her eyes.

Arizona reached up and caressed a caramel cheek. "Really" she confirmed and felt her own eyes moisture a little.

A dazzling smile gradually spread across the brunette's face. "I love you too." With that Callie leaned in and connected her lips with Arizona's. This kiss was remarkably different from the one the two women shared a minute earlier. This was so full of love. Callie's soft tongue caressed the blonde's in a way that felt so unlike all of the previous times.

The brunette didn't pull back until she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen. She looked at the blonde before her and couldn't believe her luck. How such a phenomenal woman had fallen in love with her Callie would never know. But she was so thankful she had. And she was going to show her that.

Callie leaned in and pecked swollen pink lips before she gently pushed Arizona backwards until the woman was resting her back on the table. Callie grabbed one of the cuchions from the dinning chairs and put it under the blonde's head.

"I'm going to fuck you senseless on this table. I've been waiting forever to taste you and I really don't want to wait a second longer. Once I've done that, I'm going to carry you to bed and make love to you all night. Is that okay?" the brunette asked with a sultry voice.

Cerulean eyes darkened again and Arizona felt arousal pool in her panties at the other woman's words. "Yes" she breathed out hoarsely.

Callie smiled at the blonde and moved her hands to the blonde's jeans. She popped the button open and lowered the zipper. Then she stepped back a little and slowly peeled the jeans of ivory legs all while keeping eye contact with her girlfriend.

"Kiss me" the blonde tenderly demanded. The brunette smiled and once again stepped in between Arizona's legs, bending down until her face was inches away from the other woman's. "Always" Callie whispered before pressing her lips to pink ones.

At the same time Callie let her hands wander to the blonde's center. She moved the blonde's panties to the side with one hand and slowly teased a dripping wet opening with the other.

The blonde whimpered into her girlfriend's mouth. Love and desire rushed through her veins and she deepened the kiss. She flicked Callie's tongue with her own and sucked it into her own mouth. As a finger softly circled her clit, Arizona let out a long throaty growl.

Callie pulled back and smiled at her clearly very aroused girlfriend. The sight alone turned Callie on immensely and she felt her own core throb with want. But this wasn't about her. She reached up and pulled down the fabric of the blonde's bra with one of her hands and leaned down to take a rigid nipple into her mouth, flicking it rapidly and it made a moan leave gasping pink lips.

"God Calliope" Arizona exclaimed panting as Callie suddenly bit down on the nipple eliciting both pain and pleasure for the blonde. The brunette soothed the nipple with her tongue before removing her mouth from the blonde's breast. Callie captured the other woman's lips in yet another searing kiss as she removed her hand from the blonde's center and reached up with both hands to pinch and rub pink nipples.

When she pulled back from the kiss Arizona gasped for air and threw her head back in pleasure. Her eyes were closed but a clear blush covered her neck and cheeks giving away her very apparent arousal.

"I'm going to take of your panties and them I'm going to make you come harder than ever before" Callie confidently stated.

In that moment Arizona couldn't even form a sentence if her life depended on it. Callie kissing her like that and afterwards telling her how she was going make her come undone was almost enough to tip the blonde over the edge. It was nearly unbearable. She nodded her head furiously and managed to choke out a "please."

The brunette released her girlfriend's nipples, hooked her arms around ivory thighs, pushed the blonde a little further up on the table to optimize the angle and bent down to kiss her way down a smooth and firm torso. She smiled as she once again felt the muscles in a toned stomach contract under her touch. They never failed to do that and it was one of Callie's favorite things about worshipping the blonde. She paid a little extra attention to the stomach and the flexing muscles before moving down to her destination. She paused all of her ministrations until blue eyes opened and connected with hers.

Without breaking eye contact with her girlfriend, Callie clasped the lacy material of the blonde's panties with her teeth and ever so slowly pulled the garment off.

"Shit, you're so fucking hot!" Arizona rasped out as she watched the brunette ease the panties of her.

"And you're beautiful. Especially like this" Callie said as she leaned back up, spread Arizona's legs and kissed her inner thighs. "I feel so honored that I'm the only one who gets to see you like this" the brunette said before biting down on ivory skin. It was going to leave a mark for sure, but finally Callie didn't have to care about that. Arizona didn't have to go into work tomorrow and stand in her underwear in front of the wardrobe department or the filming crew.

Then the brunette inhaled the unique scent of Arizona's arousal. She'd noticed it before of course, but it had never been as strong as this. And it was intoxicating to Callie. "You smell so good" the brunette softly stated before gently kissing her way across her girlfriends pubic area.

Callie placed her hands underneath her girlfriend's ass and lifted it slightly to get a better angle. Then she slowly traced her tongue up Arizona's slit tasting her for the first time. The taste was sensational. Sweet, salty and with a whiff of Arizona that the brunette already seemed to know somehow. Then she moved her tongue to her girlfriend's clit and softly flattened it before dragging it across the engorged button and flicking the clitoris a couple of times with the tip of her tongue.

Arizona had to use all of her strength to prevent her form coming straightaway when a warm, soft, wet tongue connected with her swollen bundle of nerves. "Jesus Christ Calliope" she moaned out with a whimper as her girlfriend caressed her engorged clitoris with her soft muscle.

The brunette smiled and closed her lips around Arizona's clit sucking gently before moving her mouth back down to the other woman's opening. If Callie thought she'd made the blonde wet before, it was nothing like the wetness that met her this time. As she pushed her tongue into her girlfriend's core, fluid spilled onto it, down her chin and onto the table. And the brunette loved it.

"FUCK" Arizona exclaimed as Callie slowly started fucking her with her tongue. The brunette's muscle was stimulating her inner walls in a way very different from how she usually did with her fingers. And it felt glorious to the blonde.

"Please don't stop" the blonde breathed out as she moaned. She felt Callie tighten her hold on her ass and hips to try and keep her down on the table.

The blonde was writhing beneath her and Callie had to use a lot of force to keep the blonde from arching up. She was afraid that she'd hurt her and leave some very ugly marks on the other woman's hips. But Arizona didn't seem to mind or feel a thing. "Shit, you're already so close" Callie spoke softly as she withdrew her tongue when she felt her girlfriends muscles start to clench. She then slid her tingue up the blonde's drenched slit a couple of times.

"I…Fuck!...I know…God…You're unbelievable…A goddess" Arizona said with a sigh as Callie's tongue once again made contact with her clit.

The brunette chuckled against her girlfriend's core making the other woman moan in pleasure. "And I'm all yours" Callie said before once again sucking an engorged clitoris into her mouth and moving her hand around to thrust two fingers into Arizona's dripping center as her other hand made its way to the blonde's breast rubbing a stiff nipple.

Arizona couldn't help herself and arched her back. Her pleasure had reached an all-time high and she felt like she was bursting at the seams. There was no way that this could get any better. This had to be what heaven felt like.

But then Callie curled her fingers and started thrusting in and out of Arizona in a fierce pace effectively hitting her girlfriend's g-spot. Arizona knew that second that she'd been wrong moments before. Because this was a whole new feeling of gratification. She felt like the blood stopped running in her veins and her heart was about to burst from her chest in sheer pleasure. She reached down and tangled her hands in brown locks pressing Callie's face to her core.

"UUUURGH CALLIOPE" the blonde exclaimed loudly in satisfaction and tore one of her hands from her girlfriend's head to intertwine her fingers with the ones caressing her breasts needing to feel connected to her gorgeous girlfriend.

The brunette slowed her movements only to pick up the pace again second later. She felt every muscle in the blonde's body tense at the move and Callie knew that meant it was only a matter of seconds before her girlfriend reached her high. And as much as she wanted to see it on the other woman's face, the hand firmly tangled in her hair prevented her from going anywhere.

As Callie's teeth softly grazed Arizona's clit while her tongue massaged it and her fingers thrusted relentlessly in an out of the other woman's center, the blonde woman's core muscles suddenly contracted harder than Callie had ever felt them do before. She almost couldn't move her fingers as Arizona's center kept them hijacked in a death grip while her muscles clenched.

Even though Arizona knew she was teetering on the edge, her orgasm hit her out of nowhere and she arched her back in a silent scream and her whole body shook as it rushed through her. She couldn't breathe and all of her senses had stopped working. Every nerve in her body was tuned in on the satisfaction currently taking over her entire being.

As her girlfriend's core muscles relaxed, Callie steadily withdrew her fingers from her girlfriend's core and started peppering the blonde's center with soft kisses. "Oh my God. Fuck! That was amazing. Oh my God" Arizona panted out as she slowly came down from her high.

Callie kissed a pink clit one last time as she whispered a "you're beautiful" against Arizona's center. Then she straightened up and softly pulled the blonde back down so her ass was at the edge of the dining table. She smiled at the sated look on her girlfriends face. Blue eyes opened and stared at her with a glazed over look. The brunette leaned down to kiss her girlfriend but paused for a second. She didn't even know if Arizona would like that. Her face was covered in the blonde's juices after all.

"You better not doubt that I want to kiss you after the way you just made me come, Calliope?" the blonde breathed out as she smiled at the brunette.

Callie smiled back and leaned all the way down to capture pink lips. Arizona groaned at the taste of herself on the other woman's lips. She tasted so different on her girlfriend than she had on any of her previous boyfriends. And it was a GOOD different. She deepened the kiss and let her tongue circle Callie's in a passionate kiss.

Arizona pulled back and leaned her forehead against the brunette's while she stared into dark brown eyes. Her girlfriend was clearly turned on, but behind the lustful look those eyes also oozed love and Arizona had never felt safer. "Thank you" left plump lips in a whisper and the blonde furrowed her brows.

"For what Calliope?" Arizona questioned.

Callie smiled. Arizona had kept using her full name whenever they were intimate and Callie didn't know if it was intentional or not, but she really liked it. "For letting me do that. That was really wonderful" the brunette softly said before pecking pink lips.

"There's no need to thank ME. I trust you. With everything that I am. Thank YOU. For bringing me such extraordinary pleasure. I know it had to be a little scary to do and yet you didn't even hesitate" Arizona said and reached up to trace a caramel cheek. "God I'm so in love with you Calliope. I've never experienced anything like this before. You're the best thing to ever happen to me. And it feels really good to finally tell you that" the blonde finished.

The lust present in the brunette's eyes had eased and love was now much more current. "Of course I didn't hesitate. I want to do everything that'll make you feel just slightly happier or slightly more satisfied. And it was extraordinary for me too. You have no idea how beautiful you are in the throes of passion, Arizona" Callie stated and exhaled loudly in content. Then she closed her eyes and leaned in again until her lips grazed Arizona's. "And I'm so very much in love with you too. You're the highlight of my life. And it brings me indescribable happiness to hear you tell me that my feelings are reciprocated. Please never stop telling me and I promise never to either" the brunette spoke and then connected her lips with Arizona's for a passionate kiss.

Things quickly got heated between the two women again and the kiss grew in intensity. Arizona was the first to pull back and looked at her girlfriend who now had blazing desire twirling in her dark brown eyes. "Not that I don't LOVE to lie here. On the dining table. Naked from the waist down. Having you do hot and mind blowing things to me. But you said something about carrying me to bed and making love to me all night. And I really want to do that Calliope. You think maybe we could?" the blonde shyly asked.

Before she knew what was happening, Callie had scooped her up and started making her way towards the stairs and the bedroom. "We absolutely can." The brunette pecked pink lips and Arizona rested her head on her lover's shoulder as she was carried to bed.

 **Aaawe their first 'I love yous' :) I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Let me know how you liked chapter 23 :D**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	24. Chapter 24

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys!**

 **I can't believe how invested you all are in this – reading chapters in school and at work and running faster to planes to be able to finish chapters before takeoff :D But I kind of love it, though… ;)**

 **To SRiis: Jubiiiii en dansker. Hvor fantastisk! Tusind tak fordi du læser med! ;) Dig sætter jeg ekstra meget pris på… :P Major shout out to you my fellow Dane! :D**

 **To Beachii92: I actually don't work directly with journalism today – but with communications ;) It just found that more interesting in the end! :D But thank you! And Google almost got it right – I understood what you were trying to say :P And I appreciate it! ;) But don't worry about it, our language is a bit of an ordeal - even for Google :)**

 **To Brit: Thank you! Because you are totally right – scrolling past this is the easiest thing in the world ;)**

 **To the guest with the Danish thank you: Well then I'm impressed! ;) And I don't think you can ever watch too much Nordic Noir – after all the original version of 'The Killing' is SO MUCH BETTER! :D**

 **Oh, and I made a Twitter account for me as a fancfition writer - the handle is ThisIsYourJulie :) I don't know that I'll be using it that much though - I might just use it to tell when I've uploaded a new chapter. Give the people who isn't users on this forum a chance to know when the next chapter is up :D I just got a few requests for it. So feel free to follow me and tweet me questions or reviews or something similar if you like - I'll do my very best to reply! ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

CHAPTER 24:

Arizona slowly came back to reality. She had slept like the dead. And that might be because of the multiple orgasms Callie had given her last night. The ways the brunette made Arizona come yesterday was just unreal. The blonde had never felt more satisfied and as tired yet as awake as she did when she and the brunette had gone to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

The blonde snuggled closer to the brunette. Arizona had never imagined being here. Lying in bed with a very naked Callie Torres. But she had never been happier. And yesterday had only served to heighten that. She'd told Callie that she loved her. And the brunette had said it back. Arizona couldn't help but smile at the thought of it.

She kissed a caramel shoulder before extracting herself from her girlfriend. She was very careful not to wake the other woman up. Callie had had a very long day yesterday and she'd fallen asleep instantly when the two women had finally had enough of worshipping each other.

Arizona grabbed her sleep wear from the floor and put it on. Then she made her way to Callie's side of the bed and squatted beside her snoozing girlfriend. She smiled as she scrutinized the gorgeous face before her. For the umpteenth time she studied the small freckles that rested across the bridge of her nose and her caramel cheeks. Then the blonde's gaze shifted to perfect eyebrows and long, soft, black eyelashes. She really envied the brunette those brows and those lashes. They somehow just perfected the brunette's face in such an extraordinary way. At last her eyes fell to the perfectly shaped mouth. Full, flawless lips that matched her own so ideally.

The blonde couldn't help herself and reached out to tenderly trace a finger along Callie's cheekbone. "I adore you" Arizona whispered before leaning in and kissing her girlfriends cheek. Then she rose and left the room silently.

As she made her way downstairs she cast a glance at the dining table and smiled at the thought of what had happened on that specific piece of furniture last night. The cushion from the dining chair was still lying on the table, and as she walked closer Arizona could see the dried up remains of her own arousal. She made a mental note to clean the table thoroughly because that was disgusting. Although the blonde was totally up for doing it again.

She moved to the coffee table where her phone lay forgotten. As she unlocked it she noticed she had two new text messages. The first one was from her mom.

 _*Hi honey. I really hope you're already enjoying your well-deserved break. Your dad and I was just wondering when your plane is landing on Sunday? Let us know. Love mom._

Arizona smiled and quickly texted her flight information back to her mother. Then she opened the last text. It was from Mark.

 _*Take good care of her blondie. She deserves the very best. -Mark._

Arizona smiled. The man was very considerate towards Callie and it warmed the blonde's heart.

 _*I will. She's very important to me Mark. I won't hurt her. -Arizona_

The blonde put her phone down and moved to go get the cleaner for the table but her phone instantly dinged with a new text.

 _*I know you won't. I trust you. -Mark._

Arizona sighed. She knew that Mark wasn't only referring to her the way she treated the brunette. She listened for a second. The house was still completely quiet. Then she closed the text, found Mark's number and put her phone to her ear.

"Hey blondie" Mark whispered as he picked up. "Just a second."

Shuffling of sheets was heard as well as the opening and closing of a door. "Okay, I'm here" the man then stated.

"Up late last night with your man, were you?" Arizona said suggestively.

Mark chuckled. "Yeah. But not for the reason you think." The man sighed dejectedly. "He spent the majority of it screaming at me. I'm really lucky he's even still here this morning" Mark said with clear sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry" the blonde gently stated.

"He's mad that I didn't tell her. I of course told him about the two of you when I got back, don't worry he's not telling anyone, and then he asked me if I told her about him. I've never ever seen him look that hopeful Arizona. And then I had to let him down. Again" Mark groaned.

"Why didn't you though? Tell her? God Mark, it was the perfect moment" the blonde said in frustration.

The man growled. "I know okay! I know!" he said with a bit of bite to his voice. "She was just so happy about me accepting the two of you, and I didn't just want to casually add 'oh funny thing, I'm also in a same-sex relationship. I have been for some time actually. And guess what; it's with another one of our colleagues!' I just couldn't do that. And I'm still a little nervous for her reaction."

Arizona groaned. "I told you already; she's not going to mind. She's going to be fine with it. Besides her freaking out about you and Andrew would be the most hypocritical thing ever now that she's admitted to being with me!" the blonde spoke.

"I'm not worried about him being a guy. But about the fact that I have to tell her I kind of left her because I had feelings for him. And the fact that we've been together a lot longer than the two of you. She'll know instantly that he was a part of the reason our marriage was changing that last year. And I have no idea what she'll think of that" Mark softly added.

The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose. "I really need you to tell her soon Mark. The longer you wait the worse it's going to get. She'll for sure be pissed that you didn't tell her yesterday! You're not the only one who's been nervous about the idea of telling. Once you tell her I won't be surprised if she thinks you're an idiot for not doing it sooner! And I have to be honest with you Mark; I'm not going to disagree with her on that" Arizona said harshly.

"I get that" Mark answered with a bit of a crack to his voice. "I get it Arizona. And I realize that this is much more complicated for you than I first thought. I really, REALLY owe you one blondie. Thank you for not telling her. It must be killing you. But I promised Andrew yesterday that I would tell her during hiatus. It doesn't matter if I have to crash her movie to do it. Because if I don't he's done. And I can't just let him go" the man gently let out and sniffled a little.

Arizona felt a pang of regret at her attitude towards the man. He undoubtedly deserved it, but the blonde was also very aware of how much Mark struggled with this. "I'm sorry Mark. I know this is anything but easy for you. And I know the thought of Andrew leaving is unbearable, but you can't honestly tell me you don't get where he is coming from?"

"Of course I get where he's coming from. He's been my dirty little secret for almost ten months because I'm too scared to tell my ex-wife about us. I don't care about how the rest of the world reacts, anyone else can suck it. But her opinion matters Arizona" Mark let out.

"I know that. Because that is exactly how Callie felt about telling you Mark. Let me know if you want me to be there with you for it. Though she can't ever find out that I've known about this Mark, because she will be FURIOUS with me, I can be there, act surprised and provide you some moral support. Not that you're going to need it, because SHE'S GOING TO BE FINE WITH IT" the blonde repeated, emphasizing the last words.

Mark sighed. "I really hope you're right Arizona!" Then the man's tone of voice changed "Where is Callie by the way? She told me you guys agreed to meet up yesterday evening. Oooooh, did you keep her up all night for some naughty activities? Is that why you didn't answer my text until now?" Mark said with a sultry voice.

Arizona chuckled. "I'm not telling you about that Mark."

"Why not? I can give you some great tips and some very useful advice" the man spoke.

"I'm sure you can Mark" the blonde said. "But I can tell you with certainty, that I don't need them."

* * *

Callie felt really groggy as she woke up. With still closed eyes she reached out for her girlfriend on the other side of the bed. But when she was only met with sheets, she turned her head and opened her eyes. The bed was indeed void of her blonde girlfriend and judging by the temperature of the sheets, Arizona had been missing from the bed for quite some time.

The brunette dried the drool from her cheek and sat up. Despite just waking up, she felt exhausted. She looked at the floor to locate her sleep wear that had been thrown off the bed last night when she and Arizona had entered the bedroom. Callie smiled at the memory. The previous night made each ounce of exhaustion worth it. It had been amazing and perfect. From the hot, HOT sex on the dining table to the slow and tender love making in the bed.

Callie put on her sleep shorts and a sports bra and left the room to locate her girlfriend. She descended the stairs and smiled at the sight that greeted her. Clad in her sleep wear and with her hair in a messy ponytail was her beautiful girlfriend scrubbing away on the surface of the dining table.

The brunette tiptoed up to her girlfriend and in one swift motion pressed her front against the blonde's back making the other woman fall slightly forward towards the table. Callie kissed an ivory neck. "You don't have to do that" the brunette softly mumbled.

Arizona smiled. "I know I don't have to. But I wanted to. It was my juices that made a mess after all" the blonde deadpanned.

Callie groaned at the memory. "And it was all kinds of hot! We're definitely trying that again."

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah, but not right now, because I've just finished cleaning the table" Arizona said.

The brunette kissed an ivory neck one last time and pulled back a little while reaching out to turn Arizona around. She smiled at her girlfriend. "Good morning beautiful" Callie tenderly said.

Arizona couldn't help but laugh a little. "Morning? It's 11.45 am Callie!"

The brunette pouted. "Hey, we didn't go to sleep until 4.30 am. Give me a break!" Callie said with a smile. "And how long have you been up, Ms. I-rise-with-the-sun?" the brunette teasingly asked.

The blonde smiled, reached up and softly trailed her hand through unruly brown locks. "I woke up at 10. And I remember last night, and this morning, very vividly, so I'm very much aware of what time we went to sleep" Arizona winked at her girlfriend. "You look like you haven't slept at all, though?" the blonde questioned with concern.

"I did sleep. Very heavy in fact. It just feels like I didn't" the brunette answered honestly.

Arizona directed a small smile at the other woman. "Then you should have stayed in bed and slept a little longer, Callie."

The brunette returned the smile. She put her hands on the blonde's waist and lifted her up to sit on the now sparkling dining table. Then she stepped in between ivory legs. "Not when I woke up and you weren't there. I want to be near you today." Callie leaned in and covered pink lips with her own.

"Mmmm. I'm getting such a nice flashback right now" the blonde murmured against plump lips and ran her hand down a naked, tanned back and reached into the brunette's shorts to grab her girlfriend's ass.

"I thought we weren't supposed to do anything on this table because you just finished cleaning it?" the brunette replied as she pulled back from the kiss a little.

Arizona chuckled and moved her hands from a glorious ass and up to trail them through the other woman's hair again. Then she rested her arms on Callie's shoulders. "We're not. Especially not when you look like you're about to fall asleep standing up. You need to rest Callie" the blonde tenderly said.

Callie leaned in and kissed the other woman's lips again. "I'm really not that tired Arizona" the brunette exclaimed.

"You are! We're way past you being able to fool me on that, Callie. And it's okay! You came home from work late Saturday and then I enticed you to spend hours making me feel really, really good. Then I woke you up during the night only for you to go back to sleep. And then you had a full day of shooting yesterday, followed by an emotionally draining dinner with Mark and lots and lots of AMAZING love making with me. It's very understandable that you're tired" Arizona finished with a small compassionate smile.

"Fine, you win. I'm dead tired!" the brunette admitted and sighed.

Arizona chuckled. "How about this; you go lie down on the couch and pick out a movie. I'm going to go get you some food, because you've got to be hungry, and then we veg out on the couch all day. You can sleep or rest or whatever you wish too, and I'm going to be right there with you" the blonde suggested.

Callie smiled gratefully at her girlfriend. "That sounds really good. Thank you. I really love you Arizona."

The blonde couldn't help but smile really big. She loved hearing those words spill from dark red lips. "And I love you." Then she pulled her arms from Callie's shoulder. "Go lie down. I'll be there in a minute with some food."

The brunette pecked Arizona's lips one last time before heading for the couch. The blonde hopped down from the dining table and took the cleaner with her to put it away. Then she went to the kitchen and made a sandwich for her girlfriend, grabbed two bottles of water and went back to the living room.

Her heart swelled at the sight that met her. Callie was already asleep on the couch and on the TV-screen played the beginning of 'The Princess Diaries'. Arizona put the sandwich and the water down on the coffee table and slowly eased down between her girlfriend and the back of the couch.

Callie stirred a little and mumbled something incoherently but when Arizona's arm wrapped around the brunette's waist a happy sigh left plump lips and the woman relaxed again. The blonde leaned over and kisses the shell of a caramel ear while whispering a 'sweet dreams Calliope'.

* * *

Callie woke to the smell of coffee. She instantly smiled at the thought of her girlfriend feeling so at ease at her home. Yesterday had been filled with naps and relaxation for the brunette. The blonde had taken charge and served Callie all day while the brunette just lay on the couch, and Callie had loved every second of it. Mostly because Arizona never hesitated to get something or go look for something in the brunette's house. As she opened her eyes and stretched, the door to the bedroom was pushed open and Arizona entered with a tray in her hands.

"Hey, you're awake" the blonde lovingly stated as she placed the tray at the foot of the bed. Then she climbed across her own side of the bed until she hovered above her girlfriend. "Happy birthday, gorgeous" Arizona lovingly stated and kissed plump lips passionately.

"Thank you" Callie rasped out as they parted. "I like it already" she added as she smiled at the other woman.

Arizona smiled back. "I'm glad." Then the blonde moved back to her own side. "Now sit up, because I brought you breakfast."

Callie did as she was told and seconds later a tray containing coffee, orange juice, pancakes, eggs, fruit, toast and a single muffin with a lit candle was placed on her lap.

"Wow Arizona. This looks delicious. You didn't have to do that!" the brunette stated.

The blonde picked up the muffin. "Of course I did. It's your birthday. You should be pampered. Blow out the candle and make a wish" Arizona requested.

Callie closed her eyes and did as she was told. Then she opened them again and found blue orbs staring back at her. "What did you wish for?"

The brunette chuckled. "I'm not supposed to tell you that. Then it won't come true" Callie deadpanned.

The blonde leaned in and connected her lips with Callie's in a lingering kiss. "Well whatever it was, I hope it comes true" the blonde mumbled against her girlfriend's lips.

The brunette pulled back and looked adoringly at Arizona. "It kind of already has" she softly stated.

Arizona smiled at the other woman. "Let's eat while it's hot."

When the two women had finished off the delicious breakfast while sharing memories of past birthdays, Arizona removed the tray and reached down by her side of the bed and pulled up a present. It was an approximately 5x7 inch rectangular shape. She handed it wordlessly to Callie

The brunette accepted it with a smile, tore the paper off and stared at the present. It was a framed picture. Of a house. It looked homely and really, really American. It was done in brownish bricks with white window frames and a porch done in white woods. Stars and Stripes waved from a flagpole. Callie was so confused. "Thank you" she hesitantly let out "but I've already got a house. You're sitting in it" the brunette deadpanned.

Arizona laughed and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend lovingly. "Don't worry, that house isn't for sale" the blonde said and gazed into Callie's eyes. "It's my parents' house" she softly said. "This is a promise Callie. A promise that I'll tell my dad and Tim about you during my visit with them. And it's a promise that, if you're up for it and it fits your shooting schedule, you can come to Little Creek and meet my family during the summer. I already talked to my mom, and she…" the blonde didn't get to say more before a pair of plump lips connected with her own in a heartfelt kiss.

Callie pulled back and looked at the blonde. "Thank you. I'd really, really like that. And I'm going to try and bribe everyone on set to make sure that's possible."

The blonde smiled. "I'm glad. But if it's not possible, you'll just meet them some other time. No big deal. I just thought that IF you have a break during those three weeks, then instead of me travelling to you, you could travel to me" Arizona rationalized.

The brunette returned the smile. "I definitely could. Thank you so much" Callie said and leaned in to the blonde once again capturing her lips in a kiss. "Best. Present. Ever" the brunette said between pecks before she pulled back completely.

"You think that was the only thing I got you?" the blonde asked with a smile and reached down by her side of the bed for the second time, pulling up another and bigger rectangular present.

"Arizona, you didn't have to get me anything else" Callie gently said. "That was more than enough."

"It totally wasn't. That wasn't even a real present!" Arizona deadpanned. "You're going to tell your family without having an occasion to do so" the blonde said softly as she handed Callie the other present. "I REALLY hope you like it. Because it's non-returnable."

Callie took the present from ivory hands and slowly opened it. As the content came into view, the brunette gasped. "Arizona! What did you do?" Callie asked as she looked at her girlfriend.

"I just noticed that you have a love for classics. And this was missing in your bookshelf. To me that is one of the greatest classics of all time. You should own that one too Calliope" the blonde tenderly said and smiled at the other woman.

The brunette traced her fingers over the words of the obviously antique book. 'The Wind In The Willows'. And it was in excellent condition. "I can't even imagine what you paid for this, but I KNOW it's way too much" Callie softly said as she looked at her girlfriend in disbelief.

"But do you like it. Because it's non-returnable remember? Although if you really hate it, I'm sure getting rid of it won't be a problem" Arizona said nervously.

Callie shook her head. "Of course I like it! But Arizona…" the brunette started.

"It's from 1908. It's a first edition. There are only 1500 of those out there" Arizona interrupted with a smile.

The brunette's eyes widened. "How much did you pay for this?" Callie questioned.

Arizona shook her head. "Nuh uh, I'm not telling you that! It ruins the whole idea of a present if I tell you that." The blonde smiled lovingly at her girlfriend. "Do you honestly like it Callie? Because I can call the guy back who helped me get it, and he can put it back on auction if you don't."

Callie gently put the book along with the framed picture on her nightstand and then turned towards the blonde. She leaned over and pushed Arizona on her back as she hovered over her. "You do realize that I gave you tickets, which I didn't even pay for I might add, to a concert for your birthday, right? Your awesome, AWESOME presents make me seem cheap and like the worst girlfriend ever" the brunette stated with a smile.

Arizona rewarded the other woman with a dimpled smile in return before reaching up and tracing a caramel cheek with her finger. "But here's the thing; you weren't my girlfriend back then. And you gave me space Callie. That was priceless to me."

The brunette looked devotedly at the blonde. "I'm totally getting you a belated birthday present" Callie said before leaning down and kissing pink lips lovingly. "Thank you. I honestly love it. I've actually often thought of getting it. My mom used to read that story to me when I was a kid and it's a really fond memory from my childhood. I never considered getting a first edition though" the brunette said while nuzzling an ivory nose.

"Well, you should make the same memory for our kids one day then. But maybe we should get another copy for you to read to them though. Because I really don't think we want them to put their chubby, greasy hands on this one" Arizona deadpanned.

Callie smiled at the blonde. She loved when Arizona talked about their future. "Please tell me what you paid for it" the brunette requested again.

Arizona chuckled and once again shook her head. "No way in hell am I telling you that Calliope. Because it doesn't matter. I'm just happy you like it. I will tell you this though; it was worth every penny" the blonde said and softly continued "I love you. Happy birthday."

"Thank you. I love you too" Callie tenderly replied.

"So what do you want to do today?" Arizona asked and reached up to play with brown locks that fell like a curtain around their faces.

Callie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I just want to spend the day with you. Maybe just a repeat of yesterday? Movies on the couch and take out for dinner?" the brunette suggested.

"Sounds good" the blonde said with a smile. "But you're buying, because your present really set me back" Arizona joked. But the brunette's face instantly scrunched up in a serious frown. "Kidding, I'm kidding" the blonde quickly added with a laugh.

The serious look on the brunette's face was replaced with a smirk and she leaned down to capture Arizona's lips in a searing kiss. Callie traced her tongue against the blonde's lip and was instantly granted access to her girlfriend's mouth. The brunette softly let her tongue explore the mouth she knew so well by now, but that still never failed to give her a new experience of it every time. Before pulling back, she gently let her teeth sink into a swollen pink lip, sucked it into her mouth and released it with a pop. Then she moved her mouth to an ivory neck and placed open mouthed kisses all the way to her girlfriend's ear, finishing by sucking and licking on the other woman's earlobe.

"Tell me what you paid for it Arizona" Callie husked out in an ivory ear before kissing the place right behind the ear, that never failed to drive the blonde crazy.

"No" Arizona moaned out as her girlfriend kept kissing her skin eliciting goosebumps all over and causing wetness to pool in her underwear. Then without warning Callie pulled back and removed herself from the blonde.

Arizona watched in disbelief as Callie got dressed in a top and a pair of running shorts she sometimes wore around the house, then started gathering the wrapping paper and picked up her phone, the framed picture and the book before walking towards the door.

"Hey!" the blonde exclaimed annoyed as she sat up. "Where the hell are you going?"

Callie chuckled at her girlfriend's tone of voice and turned around. The blonde was wearing a low cut silk sleep top and as she had sat up in the bed the fabric had glided down giving Callie the perfect view of the outlines of two pale breasts. Callie really had to control herself to not just jump back in bed and do all kind of things to those glorious ivory mounds.

"I'm going downstairs. I've got to find a spot on my bookshelf for my amazing present." With that Callie was out the door and on her way downstairs. She smiled a little as she heard the blonde curse loudly in the bedroom.

When the brunette reached the living room, she took in her bookshelf. There were a lot of books, but it still had some free spots. She moved some of her books around, creating a wide open space on one of the shelfs. She picked up her new book and once again gently traced the words on the front. She couldn't believe Arizona had gotten her this. Then she delicately placed the book on the shelf, opening it slightly to make it stand with the front facing the living room.

Then Callie moved to her photo wall. Without hesitation she took down a picture of her and Mark in the middle of the wall and replaced it with the framed one of Arizona's childhood home. The frame was strikingly different from the rest, but that didn't bother the brunette one bit. This picture was special and she didn't mind that people would be able to see that.

Just as she finished putting the picture on the wall her phone rang. She smiled as she noticed the caller-ID and slid her finger across the screen to answer the call while she sat down on the couch. "Hey mama" she softly spoke.

"Feliz cumpleaños, mija" Lucia Torres lovingly said.

"Thank you" the brunette replied with equal love in her voice.

"So how are you spending your birthday now that you didn't want to spend it with us?" Lucia asked with a hint of displeasure in her voice.

Callie sighed. "Once again mama, it's not that I don't want to spend my birthday with you guys, it just seemed silly for me to travel all the way to Miami for like a two day stay, then travel back here for the wrap party and then travelling to Nevada to start my new movie" the brunette declared. "I need to kick back a little before going to Las Vegas."

"I know mija, I'm sorry. I'll just never get used to not seeing my baby girl on her birthday" the elder Torres stated.

The younger brunette chuckled. "Well, your baby girl is 31 now mama. Time to cut the cord!"

Lucia laughed at her daughters words. "I already cut that. You live in LA, remember!" the woman jokingly said before her voice softened again. "And I can't believe you're 31, Calliope. I can still recall the first time I held you in my arms."

"Well if it helps I can't believe I'm 31 either!" Callie said. She looked at the newest addition to her bookshelf and really wished she could tell her mother about it. But then she would ask who gave it to the brunette and that wasn't something to get into over the phone.

"So how are you spending your birthday?" Lucia asked once again.

Callie smiled at Arizona as she came down the stairs and into the room. The blonde was freshly showered and her hair was still damp.

The blonde didn't smile back though but just mouthed a very clear 'I hate you' as she pouted a little.

The brunette's smile got even bigger and she winked at her girlfriend. "I'm just going to spend most of the day relaxing. These last few days of shooting were a little exhausting and even though I didn't do anything but lie on the couch yesterday, I'm still a little tired. Then I'm having some friends over for an easy dinner." Callie replied to her mother as she watched the blonde move across the room to the photo wall.

Arizona spotted the picture on the wall the second she entered the room. Her heart swelled for Callie and she loved her a little more in that moment. The blonde reached out and traced her finger along the frame. She clearly remembered which picture this one replaced. It was one that showed Mark and Callie from the waist up. The man was hugging the brunette from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder while nuzzling his nose against her cheek. He'd very clearly just said something funny, because Callie was laughing really hard. They looked so happy together on it, and ever since starting her thing with the brunette, Arizona had wanted to tear the picture down and throw it out the window. But now Callie had removed it on her own.

The blonde turned around and plopped down next to her girlfriend on the couch. She reached out a hand and intertwined her fingers with Callie's.

The brunette smiled at her. "No mama, I'm not lonely. I promise. And it's not a big deal. It's just 31."

Callie then pulled the two intertwined hands to her mouth and placed a silent kiss on top of an ivory hand. "I'm not alone ALL DAY!...I'm having people over tonight …who? Friends, that's who, mama." The brunette looked at Arizona and rolled her eyes playfully.

The blonde smiled sympathetically at the other woman. "Like Addison and Teddy and some other people from work…No I don't know if I'll invite Mark over too, mama" Callie glanced at Arizona who looked down at their intertwined hands at the mentioning of her ex-husband. "Because he left me, remember. Besides I had dinner with him the other night."

The brunette sighed in annoyance as her mother rambled on. "Stop worrying about me mama! I'm going to have a great birthday. And don't you for one second dare to race yourself or ANY of my lovely sisters to the airport to catch the private jet here! I know you're thinking about it, but it's NOT necessary" Callie finished.

Arizona played with their intertwined hands. Callie was really struggling to get her mother off her back. And it was partially her fault. If she'd just agreed to go public when the brunette suggested it, they could have told their parents then, and Callie wouldn't have to lie to her mother or stay in for the entirety of her birthday.

"…I love you too. And it's not that I don't appreciate you worrying about me, there's just nothing to worry about…Okay I will…You too… I'll see you in a month and a half…Thank you mama…Bye" Callie disconnected the call and groaned as she threw her head back on the couch. Her mother could be really stubborn sometimes. And in hindsight she should have prepared a better and more satisfying lie.

"I'm really sorry, Callie" came a low regretful voice next to her.

The brunette pulled her head back up and looked at her girlfriend confused. "What are you sorry about?"

Arizona sighed. "I'm sorry you have to be stuck at home all day for your birthday. That we can't go out and celebrate you properly. I'm sorry you can't have all your friends over for dinner. And have a big birthday party like you deserve. And I'm sorry you had to lie to your mother. I'm sorry I didn't agree to go public with you when you asked me to" the blonde finished with a small, sad smile.

Callie smiled back. "I don't HAVE to do all those things Arizona. I could have chosen for us to go out. As friends. Or I could have chosen to have my friends over for dinner. Along with you. And then I wouldn't have had to lie to my mother. Hell I could have just gone to Miami and spent my birthday there. That would for sure have made her very happy. But I didn't choose any of that. Because it's MY birthday. I get to decide how I spend it. And I want to spend it with you. And only you" the brunette gently spoke.

The blonde couldn't help herself as she leaned over and captured plump lips in a tender kiss. She gently let her tongue force its way into Callie's mouth and smiled when the other woman sighed happily at the contact. After tenderly kissing her girlfriend, Arizona pulled back and looked into chocolate brown eyes that now had a hint of dark brown in them.

"Thank you Callie. For wanting to spend this day with me. It means a lot" Arizona said before adding. "And thank you for putting that picture on the wall. You really didn't have to. It's not even a great picture" the blonde finished with a small smile as she pointed to the newest inclusion to the photo wall.

"It's a beautiful house Arizona. And it isn't really about what's in the picture. It's about you. For the longest time, I've been wanting to have a piece of you up on that wall. And while I'm sorry that it can't be a picture of your beautiful face, yet, then this is kind of perfect. It's never coming down" Callie softly said.

The blonde snuggled up to her girlfriend and buried her head in the crook of the brunette's neck. She couldn't help but inhale the familiar scent of her girlfriend and she felt tears of happiness rise in her eyes. She kissed a tanned neck and moved to rest her forehead against a soft caramel cheek. "You know, I used to think that you smell like sunshine and roses. But I was wrong. You don't. You smell like love. And home. And I'm thanking my lucky stars every day, that I met you. Thank you for being extraordinary and perfect Calliope" Arizona choked out.

Callie smiled and leaned her head to the side connecting her cheek a little firmer with an ivory forehead. "I only seem perfect because I'm an ideal match to your flawlessness!" the brunette spoke as she put her arm around Arizona's shoulder and pulled the other woman even closer. "And this is already one of the best birthday's I've ever had. It beats the hell out of last year, that's for sure. Leave it to Mark to completely destroy my 30th birthday" the brunette said with a sarcastic chuckle.

"You didn't celebrate your 30th birthday?" Arizona asked as she kissed her girlfriends cheek and pulled back to rest her head on a tanned shoulder.

"Yeah I did. My family really did their best to make sure I had a nice day. I had to stop my mom from throwing me this big surprise party though, because I was not in the mood for that. You know being dumped by my husband two weeks earlier and all" the brunette deadpanned.

Then she reached for the remote on the coffee table. "But enough about my 30th birthday. I'd much rather focus on my 31st. Because that one is awesome. And because I'm the birthday girl, I get to pick ALL the movies today."

Arizona chuckled. "Fine. Because I'm such an amazing girlfriend I'll agree to that new rule" the blonde deadpanned.

Callie turned her head and looked at the blonde. "You are the best girlfriend in the world." Then she pecked pink lips and started scrolling through the action movies on Netflix.

* * *

It was Friday and the wrap party was in full swing. The rest of the brunette's birthday had been spent laughing, kissing and cuddling on the couch. Callie even read a chapter of 'The Wind In The Willows' to the blonde. They'd been interrupted from time to time by people calling to congratulate the brunette, and Arizona had teased the brunette with soft kisses on her neck as she spoke to Aria. When she talked to Jael the brunette had told her sister all about the gifts the blonde had given her, and she'd even leaned over and soundly kissed pink lips while talking to her second youngest sister. Rei had of course congratulated her sister with a really old picture of the two of them on Instagram, and Arizona had laughed a little at the early millennium look on the teenage version of her girlfriend. Then they'd ended the day with some really satisfying love making. When Wednesday had rolled around and the brunette's birthday was over the two women had reluctantly parted for Arizona to go home and sort out her things before leaving for Georgia Sunday. They had decided to meet up at one of their homes after the wrap party to enjoy one final night and day together before the blonde took off for vacationing with her parents and Callie went to Nevada.

After what felt like an eternity for the blonde friday was finally there, the wrap party had started and Callie had of course arrived looking all kinds of gorgeous. She was wearing a dark blue pantsuit, her hair was done in some kind of Mohawk-type up do and she had smokey eye make-up on. The blonde had really missed her girlfriend during those two days and seeing the brunette like that did all sorts of things to Arizona. And she had to do something to keep herself from showing her girlfriend how hot she found her right there in front of all of their colleagues. So she'd been drinking. A lot. Mainly with Mark. But the man had disappeared on her, so now she was drinking with Teddy.

"Wait! You gave her a book that cost 1200 dollars?" the honey-blonde asked her friend in disbelief.

Arizona just shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her drink. "It's not that expensive."

"It's a book, Arizona! The last book I bought cost 20 dollars" Teddy deadpanned and threw back the rest of her drink.

"I know. But she deserved it. And I had to find something she'd treasure but that didn't scream 'I love you' in a too obvious way. Because I didn't know I'd told her that before her birthday" Arizona reasoned.

Teddy looked at her friend with raised eye brows. "A book that costs 1200 dollars DOES scream 'I love you'."

Arizona chuckled. "Well then it was a good thing I'd already said it. Besides she doesn't know how much I paid for it. So keep your mouth shut, Teds" the blonde warned her friend that in return made a zipper move across her lips before throwing a metaphorical key over her shoulder.

In that moment Addison and Amelia came up to the bar. "Hey guys. What are you up to?" Amelia happily said.

Arizona smiled at the other woman. "Hey! Nothing much. Just talking and trying to empty the bar" the blonde joked.

"Well, I'm always game for that!" Amelia stated and leaned in to order a round of shots. Teddy had attacked Addison in a very passionate kiss and the blonde smiled at her honey-blonde friend who was very clearly drunk of her ass.

"Here you go" Amelia said as she handed the blonde a shot. Then she turned towards Teddy and Addison and rolled her eyes at the sight. "Yo, horny lovebirds. Shots" the brown haired woman said and gestured to the shots on the counter when Teddy and Addison parted.

As the four of them toasted, Arizona spotted Callie excuse herself from her conversation with Meredith and Cristina and walk across the room and out through the door. She really was hot as hell and Arizona really wanted to follow her and fuck her in the bathroom. But she knew that was way too risky. She had to be patient. There would be time for that later. She downed her shot and turned towards the bar. She was going to need more of those.

* * *

Callie left the room of the party and made her way towards the bathroom. She needed a breather. Because Arizona looked beautiful in her orange dress and with her blonde, straightened locks flowing freely. And Callie hadn't gotten the chance to have her hands on her girlfriend for two whole days and she could feel her hands tingle in longing. On her way she came past a door that was slightly ajar and Andrew Deluca's voice sounded out. "Stop. You're drunk. And as much as I love you and as much as I want to, there's no way this is happening here!"

The brunette smiled and furrowed her brows a little. She wondered who Andrew had in the room with him. She didn't know he had a girlfriend. Maybe it was one from the production. Callie made her way past the door. She considered closing it for a second, but decided against it.

Just as she was clear of the door another voice made her stop dead in her tracks and her heart started beating rapidly as her whole mind went blank. "Like you've ever been able to resist me. And I love you too. A lot." It was unmistakable to Callie. Because she'd spent ten years listening to that voice every day.

Without a second thought she turned around and barged through the door just in time to see Mark's lips connect with Andrew's.

"What the hell?!" she gasped out and watched as her ex-husband and colleague sprang apart in shock of the sudden intrusion.

Mark paled in an instant and his face became white as a sheet. "Callie!" he exclaimed surprised.

The brunette just stood there flicking her gaze between Mark and Andrew. Deluca looked oddly happy but at the same time on the verge of tears and Mark looked like he would pass out any second.

"Would you please tell me, what is going on?" Callie asked incomprehensible as she stared at her ex-husband. Of course she knew what was going on, but somehow her brain just wouldn't catch up to what her eyes had just seen. Five days ago she'd been sitting across from Mark and nervously poured her heart out about her feelings for Arizona. And now she'd just heard Mark declare his own love for Andrew. There's no way that relationship had suddenly evolved in the days passing since their dinner. Still Mark hadn't said anything then, but just let her sit there; nervously defending her relationship with Arizona.

Anger suddenly rose in the brunette and before she even realized it, she'd closed the door behind her and made her way to her ex-husband. Mark stepped back in shock and had his back pressed against the wall in a matter of seconds. "Tell me, damn it!" Callie demanded in a raised voice.

"I think I'm going to be sick" the man in front of her breathed out with a panicked look.

"Oh please don't give me that crap Mark! You're not going to be sick. You're just scared because you got caught with your pants down. Figuratively speaking. But from what I heard it would have been literally had I walked in here moments later. TELL. ME! Callie furiously demanded again.

Andrew stepped forward and put his hand on the fuming brunette's shoulder. "Callie…" he started. But the woman turned to him with raging eyes.

"Get your hand off me, Andrew. This hypocritical bastard is going to tell me EVERYTHING himself" Callie stated through gritted teeth before turning her attention back to a very frightened looking Mark.

"Tell me. NOW" she once again commanded.

"I'm sorry Cal. I would have told you before. But the right opportunity just never presented itself…" Mark shakenly started.

Callie laughed disbelieving at her ex-husband. "You are UNBELIEVEABLE! The right opportunity? The PERFECT opportunity was there five days ago, Mark!"

Mark's eyes glossed over with tears. "I'm so sorry" the man once again stated this time with a quivering lower lip.

The brunette's anger subsided a little and she moved back an inch. "Tell me everything. And I mean everything Mark!"

The man sighed. "You know I started hanging out with Andrew more and more after he joined the cast almost two years ago. And I don't know how or when, but I just started having all those feelings for him. Feelings I used to have for you. And I was so confused. Because I just wanted to spend more and more time with him…" the intoxicated man babbled on.

"Wait! You cheated on me with him?" Callie asked with obvious hurt in her voice.

"NO!" the two men in the room said in unison. "I would NEVER do that Callie. I promise" Mark spoke and tried to do a cross motion in front of his heart but failed miserably.

Callie rolled her eyes at her ex-husband and his inebriated state. "Then when did this happen?" she questioned as she gestured between the two men. She'd calmed down quite a bit, but her voice still held a very significant edge to it and Mark knew that he had to thread carefully.

"Ten months ago. And I would have told you Cal, but I was really scared how you would react." Mark said with a crack to his voice.

"Ten months ago? Jesus Christ!" Callie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Then she looked at her ex-husband with a much softer look. "I'm not going to lie to you; it hurts a little that you left because you had feelings for someone else. But it hurts way more that you didn't think you could tell me that! You respected me and our marriage and that's all I could ever ask of you Mark. And if you didn't want to be with me, then that's fair. But Mark, I've spend a year wondering what the hell I did wrong. I desperately don't want to make the same mistake twice, but that's not easy to try to prevent when all you gave me was 'we're not working anymore'. But this" the brunette said as she once again gestured between her ex-husband and his new lover "this I couldn't do anything about! And I'm happy that you guys found each other. Love should be treasured and enjoyed. But I have to say, that you're a first class idiot, Mark Sloan" Callie finished with a pointed look at the man.

"I know. Arizona already told me that. And she told me that you'd think so as well. Actually she'd told me multiple times this last month that I was an idiot. She's not shy about letting her opinion be known" Mark said without realizing the information he'd just revealed to his ex-wife.

Callie recoiled at those words. "Arizona knew?" she breathed out at the same time as a wide eyed Andrew let out a loud scolding "MARK!"

The panicked look was back in Mark's eyes in a matter of seconds. "Cal, I…" But the brunette didn't hear the rest of it, because in two long strides she was at the door, tore it open and left the room.

* * *

Arizona watched as a clearly pissed off brunette came crashing through the doors and steered right for her. As a panicked Mark appeared behind Callie followed seconds later by a regretful looking Andrew that headed straight for the bar after sending a small smile her way, Arizona felt herself sobering and paling instantly. By the look on the brunette's face she knew exactly what had happened.

"YOU KNEW!" Callie exclaimed loudly before she even reached Arizona fully. Thankfully the music was booming from the speakers and only Teddy, Addison and Amelia who stood right next to her heard the brunette's words and took notice of what was happening.

Arizona opened her mouth to say something, but Callie beat her to it. "You knew! And you didn't tell me?" the brunette said as tears quickly rose in raging chocolate brown eyes.

"Callie…" the blonde softly started, but the other woman clearly wasn't done.

"You knew how I struggled to confide in HIM, and you STILL didn't tell me! I'm such an idiot! Because I believed you. When you said you loved me, I believed you. I believed what you and I had was real! But then I learn that you've kept this secret at all costs, and now I don't know what to think!" Callie finished clearly very emotional.

Arizona vaguely registered as Amelia gasped behind her, probably at the brunette's words. But the blonde couldn't worry about that right now. Because the woman in front of her clearly felt hurt and betrayed and the blonde had no idea how to fix it.

 **That's it for chapter 24! A bit of drama, because it can't all be smooth sailing, and a bit of a cliffhanger!**

 **I'm sorry to say, that I've got a really busy end to this week, but I should be able to be back with the next chapter Saturday or Sunday! :) Sorry to keep you hanging for that long… :/**

 **Until then let me know what you thought of this chapter! ;)**

 **Like always: lots of love /Julie**


	25. Chapter 25

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys!**

 **First of all: SO SORRY for keeping you hanging this long, but the weekend just got a little busier than anticipated :/ But I'm here now!**

 **A lot of you think Callie overreacted, but I think you'll all understand her a little better after this chapter. I would have been mad as hell too had it been me in Callie's shoes, let me tell you that! ;)**

 **To the guest who wants a nice flowing love story: Well it's not here right now that's for sure. And I have to tell you; I don't really believe in nice flowing love stories. Every love story has its own drama and problems. A relationship is hard work and you evolve as your relationship does as well.**

 **Scampers0213: Thank you for your lovely words. I'm so glad you liked it. And that it raised a lot of questions with you – it's always the idea to do that to keep my readers :P**

 **Beachii92: I can't believe you stayed awake to read it – and that it made you skip school…I can't condone that (I LOVE you) ;)**

 **camilovesgreys: Hey! Welcome to the HD & HD universe. I'm glad you like it (and my writing).**

 **On another note I just want to warn you all: I'm going on a two week long vacation to Malaysia starting next Tuesday (on the 19** **th** **) and ending August 2** **nd** **(YAY, can't wait!). I will not be uploading any chapters in that period as I will be busy enjoying and exploring that beautiful country. Please bear with me. I promise to go on vacation without leaving you guys with any major cliffhangers :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

CHAPTER 25:

Arizona hesitantly stepped a little closer to the brunette. "Callie please come down" the blonde pleaded gently.

"Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down, when I've just discovered that YOU knew my ex-husband was fuc…" before the brunette knew what was happening an ivory hand had clasped over her mouth stopping her from saying anything else.

"I know you're hurt Callie. And mad. But you're mad at me right now! Don't do that to him. Not like this. He doesn't deserve that" Arizona softly said as she gestured around them with her free hand. Her gaze briefly caught Mark's, who sent her a grateful smile.

Callie looked around and realized that more people had begun paying attention to the fight currently happening between two of the female cast members.

Arizona slowly eased her hand from plump lips. "We need to have this conversation somewhere else" the blonde firmly stated.

"Go to hell Arizona!" Callie spit as she schooled her flaming eyes on Arizona's widened blue ones one last time before turning around and leaving the room again.

Arizona gave Miranda Bailey and Cristina Yang, who was still looking at the scene, a small smile. Thankfully the rest of the party guests had returned to whatever they were doing. Then the blonde turned towards the three women standing next to her. Addison and Teddy looked at her compassionately and confused, and Amelia just stood there with her mouth agape.

"Addison…" Arizona crestfallenly started.

But the blonde didn't need to say anything else, because the red head instantly withdrew her hand from Teddy's. "On it!" Addison said and was rewarded with a soft 'thank you' from Arizona as she made her way towards the door Callie had just left through.

Then Arizona turned her full attention to Amelia. "I know you're probably wondering if you heard that whole conversation correctly. And you did. But I really need you not to tell anyone, Amelia. Please. We should get to do that ourselves. And we will. We just need to tell our families first. And then we'll tell everyone else. If there's even anything to tell anymore" the blonde said with a bit of sadness to her voice.

Amelia's wide eyes stared back at Arizona. Then the woman blinked a couple of times and shook her head. "Your secret is safe with me. I have absolutely no problem pretending I didn't just hear any of that! Because that will by far be the easiest thing to do for me" the woman said before turning to walk away. She paused for a second and turned back towards the blonde with a smile. "For what it's worth though, I think you make an excellent couple."

Arizona returned the gesture. "Thank you."

With one last smile Amelia made her way to Miranda Bailey and Cristina Yang. Arizona watched as Amelia said something while gesturing towards Arizona that made the other two women laugh and shake their heads. Arizona made a mental note to thank Amelia for real once all of this was over. Because she was sure that the other woman had just given the lie of a lifetime to their two colleagues.

A hand on her shoulder made Arizona remove her gaze from the three women. "Are you okay? What's going on?" Teddy asked and furrowed her brows in worry.

The blonde sighed. "I don't know Teddy. And I'll tell you later." Then her gaze fell on Mark who'd moved to the bar furthest away. "Excuse me" Arizona said seriously before making her way towards her girlfriend's ex-husband.

She strode right up to him and grabbed his arm in a tight grip. "Mark! A word!" Arizona let out through gritted teeth.

Then the blonde dragged Mark to the door and opened it for him to exit the room.

"I'm sorry Arizona, I really am!" the man instantly started apologizing.

The blonde threw her hands in the air. "What happened? How did she find out that I knew?" Arizona asked.

Mark averted his gaze to the floor and the blonde instantly knew what had happened. "You didn't Mark. Please tell me, you didn't!" the blonde said indignantly.

The man exhaled and looked up at her. "I'm sorry. It just slipped. I didn't even think about it" he defensively said.

"You didn't think about it? Are you for real right now! Not even a week ago I stressed to you that she could NOT find out that I knew, and then you told her yourself?" Arizona said as she released a shocked and hurt huff. "I've kept your ridiculous little secret from her for more than a month and this is how you repay me?

Mark looked at the hurt and angry blonde in front of him. "I know I fucked up Arizona. You don't' have to tell me that!"

"OF COURSE I have to tell you that! Because you deserve to be told time and time again. You're an ungrateful imbecile" Arizona said as tears rose in cerulean blue eyes.

"She was just so mad at me blondie! I've never seen her that angry before. And I just didn't even think. I just wanted her to stop looking like she wanted to kill me" Mark defended.

The blonde snorted. "Well I guess you succeeded in that because now she looks like she wants to kill me instead. Thanks a lot!"

Mark reached out and put his hand on the blonde's arm. "It'll pass Arizona. She'll come around. And I'm so sorry. Tell me what I can do to make it better" he gently said.

Arizona sighed. "You can help make sure that she comes around. Soon. And you're definitely making sure that I NEVER stumble upon another one of your secrets! Because I'm not doing this ever again Mark" the blonde seriously said.

"I promise I'll never ask you to" Mark instantly replied.

"Oh, and you're buying Callie and me dinner at a really expensive and romantic restaurant!" the blonde added.

The man smiled softly at her. "Not a problem. I'll pay for the two of you to make your way through every romantic restaurant in this city if you want to."

The blonde felt as tears once again filled her eyes. "I want to. I just don't think that SHE wants to."

Mark pulled Arizona into a hug. "I'm so sorry. We'll fix this" the man said.

The blonde eased out of the hug. "I need to go find her. Make her talk to me. I want to make her understand" Arizona let out.

"She will. She knows that you love her Arizona" Mark gently said.

A single tear slipped down an ivory cheek. "I'm not so sure she does, Mark."

The man once again put his hand on the blonde's arm. "Of course she does" then he hesitated for a second "are we okay?"

Arizona sighed. "I don't know Mark! Maybe. I still can't believe you did that. Right now I need to focus on Callie, though."

Mark nodded sadly. "I understand. And once again I'm so sorry, Arizona."

"Yeah, that doesn't really help me right now, though" the blonde replied as she walked past Mark to look for her angry girlfriend.

* * *

Callie was leaning against the wall outside the building. A couple of tears had made their way down her cheeks and she sniffled loudly. She knew that her words to Arizona had been a little harsh, but she'd just really thought that the two of them had gained confidence and trust in each other. And with this discovery Callie couldn't help but feel like Arizona had somehow been more Mark's person in this whole thing than hers.

"There you are! I've been looking for you" a soft voice interrupted her thoughts and Addison appeared next to her. She leaned her back against the wall mirroring Callie's position.

As Addison reached out a soft hand connected with a caramel one and a flood of tears instantly left brown eyes. "Callie!" the red head let out in sympathy and pulled her friend to her in a hug. "What happened?" Addison asked.

The brunette just shook her head into her friend's neck. "I…She…" Callie choked out before sobbing loudly.

"Shh, it's okay" Addison gently said as she caressed the brunette's back.

Callie cried more and harder than she had when she'd broken things off with Arizona after Easter break. She'd completely given into the blonde and her feelings for her these past four and a half weeks and she felt so heartbroken now that she'd discovered that Arizona hadn't done the same.

The brunette inhaled loudly and pulled back from the hug looking at her best friend through teary eyes. "Mark is in a relationship with Andrew" Callie stated with a straight face.

Addison's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" the red head let out in pure shock.

Callie nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. But that's not really the point. I'm really happy for him. I mean I came into the room blazing and all making them spring apart like two opposites of a magnet, but they seemed very fond of each other. The point is though, that Arizona knew about it Ads. For at least a month" the brunette let out as another wave of tears hit her.

"I've really been struggling with telling Mark. I've actually let a few chances to do it pass, because my nerves got the better of me. And I told her about that every time. And yet she chose to keep his secret" Callie let out with a trembling voice.

The red head sighed. "I get why you're hurt about that. But she's his friend, Callie. What was she supposed to do?"

Callie looked at her friend in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? She was supposed to TELL ME! I'm her GIRLFRIEND Addison!"

Addison put her hands up in a defensive manner. "No need to raise your voice. I'm just trying to maybe get you to understand where she's coming from. It has to have been difficult for her too."

"Difficult? DIFFICULT?" Callie spat. "Are you serious? Okay, let's say you were really struggling with something and Teddy knew something that could fix it, but chose not to tell you, you'd just be okay with that?!" the brunette questioned angrily.

"I guess not, but…" the red head started but was interrupted by a third party joining them.

"Callie?" Andrew hesitantly asked as he approached the two women.

"What Andrew?" the brunette questioned harshly.

Andrew directed a small smile at his boyfriend's ex-wife. "Can I maybe talk to you for a second?"

"Yes, you absolutely can" Addison answered before the brunette had a chance to reply and turned around to leave before Callie objected. On her way she paused and put her hand on Andrew's arm. "Be careful with her. Oh and I'm happy for you and Mark. Callie told me, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Then Addison made her way through the door and back into the building. Both Andrew and Callie followed the red head with their eyes and as she disappeared two sets of brown eyes connected.

The man swallowed hard before moving closer to the brunette. "Listen Callie. I understand that it's a lot to take in. And for what it's worth, I've been trying to get him to tell you for the past 6 months. You deserved to know. Like I'm sure you thought he deserved to know about you and Arizona. My lips are sealed about that by the way" Andrew gently spoke as he smiled at the brunette.

Callie smiled back a little and sighed. "I meant what I said Andrew. I am happy you guys found each other. Mark is a good guy and a part of me will always love him. But I haven't been sad that he and I split up for a long time" the brunette stated.

"Because of Arizona?" Andrew asked softly.

"Because of Arizona!" Callie confirmed with a small smile.

Andrew sighed. "I get that you're hurt and mad at her Callie. You're probably as hurt and mad as I was when Mark came back from dinner last Sunday and hadn't told you about us" Callie chuckled a little sarcastically at that "but he's been playing the same game with her as he did with me. He's told her time and time again that he would tell you. I know because he's admitted that to me. And while I haven't talked to her about any of this, it kind of made sense to me, that she kept her mouth shut about us, when Mark came back from dinner and told me about you guys. You're both intimately familiar with the importance of taking things at your own pace. And telling people when you're ready" the man rationalized.

Callie hated how much sense the young man's words made. She looked at him and smiled. "We sure are! And I get what you are saying, but she still betrayed my trust in her. She's my GIRLFRIEND! If you and Mark were stupid enough to get caught, by what you knew to be one of my best friends none the less, then you brought your outing to me on yourselves." the brunette said and Andrew chuckled a little.

"I guess you're right! I really love him though, Callie. It's the only reason I haven't left him during these ten months as he again and again failed to tell you. Sunday I actually granted him an ultimatum; if he hadn't told you by the end of hiatus, he and I were over! And I had every intention of following through with that" Andrew told the brunette.

"But then I walked into that room and lost my temper" the brunette added with a smile.

The man next to her laughed a little. "You sure did! And to me it was the best thing that could have happened. Granted it would have been preferable if you'd maybe not looked like you were about to strangle him. But he wouldn't have ever told you himself! He's had ten months. These next two wouldn't have made a difference. I know it wasn't the most favorable way for you to find out. But I'm glad you did. And I'm sorry he told you that Arizona knew. He'd promised her not to. But you scared the shit out of him in there. I've never seen him that intimidated" Andrew said and began laughing. And the brunette soon joined him.

The duo laughed until Callie groaned and leaned her head back against the wall. "God I can just see the headlines. The press is going to have a field day with this" Callie let out. "Two recently divorced Hollywood sweethearts now both in same-sex relationships! I hope you're ready for this Andrew?" the brunette said and looked at the young man.

Andrew smiled at her. "Oh I totally am! I say we let them bring it!"

Callie laughed and paused as she really took the man in. He was undoubtedly handsome and he had really kind eyes. "How come you and I never really talked? I mean sure we've done scenes together and done small talk between takes, but I feel like I don't know you at all" the brunette said.

A small blush crept up Andrew's cheeks. "I've kind of been avoiding you a little" he gently said. "I was so scared that I'd let something slip or that you'd be able to tell I loved him just by looking at me. And I was afraid that if I was the one to let you in on his and my secret, then he would never forgive me."

Callie smiled sympathetically at the man. "Well, I'd really like to get to know you better now. But I think we need alcohol! What do you think?" the brunette asked.

"I think you're right! And I'd really like that too" Andrew answered with a soft smile.

"Great" Callie exclaimed. "Follow me."

* * *

Arizona was walking aimlessly around looking for Callie. She felt like she'd looked everywhere and she was beginning to fear, that her gorgeous girlfriend had left the party and gone home. Addison had said that Callie was outside with Andrew, but Arizona hadn't been able to locate either one of them. Just as she was about to throw in the towel and just go to the brunette's house, a familiar laughter reached her ears. She walked inside a conference room and found Callie and Andrew lying on the floor with a bottle of champagne between them. By the looks of it, this wasn't their first bottle.

"Hey" Arizona timidly said as she made her presence known. The laughter died down and the two intoxicated people both turned their gaze towards the door and the blonde.

"Arizona!" Andrew happily let out. "We've been talking about you. Boy, do you have some serious groveling to do" the man said as he laughed before yelping in fake pain as Callie attempted to punch his shoulder. Except she almost missed completely and to Arizona the likelihood of that hurting at all was non-existent.

The blonde looked at Andrew and then her girlfriend. "Believe me, I know!" Arizona stated softly. "I was thinking I'd might grovel to her as I was strangling your boyfriend. You know getting two jobs done at once." the blonde joked in hopes of lightning her girlfriend's mood.

Andrew gasped. "Don't do that. He didn't mean too. He was just scared and drunk" the man apologized in panic.

Arizona chuckled. "And by the looks of it, he's not alone in being drunk! But you can relax, I already talked to him. And even though I'm still really disappointed in him, we talked about it and he promised me his first born, to make sure I never ever fell upon one of his secrets again and to pay for a really expensive and really romantic dinner for me and my gorgeous, amazing girlfriend. If she's up for it?" the blonde jokingly yet hesitantly asked as her blue eyes connected with chocolate brown ones.

Callie opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as Mark's voice sounded out. "Blondie! Have you seen Andrew? I can't find him anywhere" the man asked as he made his way into the room. Then he smiled as he finally found what he was looking for before raising one of his eye brows at the sight of his ex-wife and his boyfriend both lying on their backs on the floor. "What's going on here?" Mark questioned with a chuckle.

The brunette smiled at her former lover. "We're bonding, Mark!" Callie said as it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

Mark smiled back at her. "I'm glad!" Then the man moved further in the room and lay down next to Andrew. Then he looked at Arizona who was still standing at the entrance of the room. "What are you waiting for? Come join us."

Arizona hesitated for a second but when Callie didn't object, the blonde figured it was safe. She carefully lowered herself on to her back next to the brunette and she couldn't help it as she sneaked a look at the other woman. Callie was staring at the ceiling with a serious face.

"It's not her fault, Cal" Marks voice cut through the silence. "I'm a stone-cold moron, who asked for way too much from her. To be fair though I had NO IDEA that the two of you were together.

Silence once again filled the room. Arizona really wanted to reach over and grab the brunette's hand, but she didn't know how that would be received by the other woman. "I love you Callie" she whispered instead. But the room was still eerily silent and Callie kept looking at the ceiling with the same expression as moments before. The blonde sighed. She didn't know what to do to make this better.

As if Andrew could sense the blonde's distress he started chuckling. "What's so funny?" Mark asked.

"Never had I ever thought that I would lie on some floor having just been drinking an unknown amount of champagne with your ex-wife before you and her new girlfriend joined us! It's all kinds of surreal. I for sure thought that you'd never be ready to tell and that your problems with telling her were just an excuse because you weren't ready to come out to the world" Andrew exclaimed before adding "and I have to say Mark; Callie is GREAT! I've really been missing out as I kind of avoided her this past year. I don't know how you can't be in love with her anymore. Hell I'm a little in love with her now" the young man finished.

"HEY!" Arizona let out warningly from her spot on the floor. She knew the man was drunk. And probably joking. But that didn't mean she wanted to hear him say things like that.

Mark laughed while Andrew chuckled. Callie still kept a blank expression.

"I didn't mean it like that Arizona" Andrew said and then added "well I did actually, BUT I'm more in love with Mark so you've got nothing to worry about. But you're really fortunate you get to be with her."

"I know" the blonde croaked out. And for the first time since she laid down Callie turned her head and looked at the blonde. Her face was still void of any emotions though.

Mark suddenly rose from his place on the floor and held out his hand for Andrew to take. The young man just looked at him with a questioning look. "Come on" Mark stated.

Andrew put his hand in Mark's and let himself get pulled off the floor. "Where are we going?" the younger man asked his boyfriend.

Mark leaned in and briefly kissed Andrew's lips. "You'll see!"

Callie and Arizona got up as well and followed the two men back to the party. Mark took Andrew's hand and led him straight to the middle of the room. Then he stopped, reached up and caressed his boyfriend's face before leaning in and kissing him passionately.

It took a while before anyone took notice of the two men, but suddenly loud gasps and a single 'what the hell' sounded out followed by wolf whistles and clapping. Mark pulled back and looked at the satisfied look on Andrew's face with a smile. "I love you. I'm sorry I've been an idiot! And my concerns about telling her were not because I wasn't ready to tell the world. I've really been looking forward to get to do this." Mark softly said and leaned his forehead against Andrew's, who now had the biggest smile on his face.

Callie and Arizona watched the whole thing unfold. The brunette couldn't help but smile. Andrew had really grown on her these last few hours and he was undoubtedly a great match for Mark.

As the wolf whistles died down everyone turned to look at Callie to gauge her reaction. The brunette smiled but no one seemed to look away. Then Callie made her way to her ex-husband and his boyfriend. She kissed Mark's cheek soundly and threw an arm around Andrew's shoulder.

Arizona watched as Callie said something that caused Andrew to laugh and Mark to pout slightly. The blonde couldn't help but get angry with Mark again. There he was being all happy being out with Andrew and with a smiling Callie by his side. Arizona had been the big loser in all of this and it didn't seem like Mark was making any sort of effort to help her get back on track with the brunette at all.

"Okay! What. Is. Happening?" Teddy asked as she and Addison strolled up to Arizona. "Is EVERYONE at our workplace suddenly in same-sex relationships?"

Arizona chuckled. "What's wrong Teds? You don't like to share your 'Heart and Hospital' LGBTQ-space with anyone else?" the blonde teasingly replied.

The red head let out a laugh at that and Teddy pouted a little. "It's not that, and you know it. I just have no idea where all of this is coming from! I get equally surprised every time" the honey-blonde said.

"I know. And believe me I got surprised too, when I walked in on them holding hands!" Arizona deadpanned.

Teddy looked at her friend. "Is that why Callie's mad at you? Because you didn't tell her about it?"

The blonde sighed. "Yes. But apparently Mark gets very easily forgiven for not having told her anything about this for ten months, but I committed some sort of death sin by keeping it a secret for a month!" Arizona said a little hostile.

"She feels betrayed, Arizona. She trusted you. She finally reached a place where she could relax completely in her relationship with you. She confided in you about her worries and hesitations regarding telling Mark. But you still chose to keep his secret. That takes a little time to process" Addison defended her friend.

"I know" Arizona stated. "But I want the chance to explain to her why I did it."

At that second Callie came over to the trio. "Hey. Ads, do you want to grab a drink with me? I feel like I haven't really talked to you tonight. Well except for outside, but that doesn't count!" the brunette said. She was clearly still drunk from her hang out with Andrew and some bottles of champagne earlier.

Addison smiled and started moving. "Sure!"

"Callie, can we talk?" Arizona hesitantly asked.

"No" Callie immediately answered "Not tonight. And our plans about spending the night together are cancelled!"

Arizona felt her eyes moisture. She had to get herself together. "Why?" the blonde breathed out.

"Because you lied to me, that's why!" the brunette deadpanned with a serious face.

"Please Callie. Let me explain. I know I fucked up, but please hear me out!" Arizona pleaded.

Callie shook her head. "Not right now!" then she turned her attention to Addison. "Let's go."

"Don't you think that was a bit harsh Callie?" Addison whispered to her friend as they walked towards the bar.

"You really want to go there again Ads?" Callie questioned.

Addison shook her head. "Nope."

"That's what I thought" the brunette stated as they reached their destination. "What do you want to drink?"

Arizona stood there watching Callie and Addison walk away. The blonde couldn't believe she'd fucked up this royally.

Teddy's arm looped through Arizona's in a comforting manner. "I'm losing her Teddy. I've barely had her and now I'm losing her!"

"You're not Arizona. She just needs some time" the honey-blonde tried to comfort her friend.

"I want to go home" Arizona softly said.

Teddy gave her friend a small smile. "I know. But let's just have one more drink and then we'll leave. I can stay the night with you if you want me to. I'll just tell Addison. She won't mind."

Arizona smiled at the honey-blonde. "Thank you Teddy. I'd like that. One drink and then we'll go home."

Mark and Andrew came over hand in hand. In the nine months Arizona had known Mark she'd never seen him this happy. And it made her blood boil with fury.

"Hey guys. Congrats! You really took me by surprise" Teddy exclaimed.

Mark smiled at Andrew. "I know. But trust me when I say that it was a long time coming." Then he turned to Arizona. "More drinks to celebrate our hard work on screen, Arizona?" the man asked hopefully.

"What in this world makes you think I want to spend ANY time with you?" the blonde asked through gritted teeth. She had to really get it together to not flat out yell at the man in front of her.

Mark's face fell. "What's going on Arizona? I thought we were kind of okay?"

"We were" Arizona exclaimed as she gesticulated with her arms. "But then you got to stand there all happy with Andrew and forgiven by Callie and everything is just fine. FOR YOU. Because I'm standing here, while my girlfriend, if she even still is my girlfriend, is standing over there and doesn't want anything to do with me. BECAUSE OF YOU! And it's like you don't even notice. Sure you gave a tiny speech on the floor in the conference room, but do you even care that it didn't work? Good for you Mark. Coming out with Andrew. Congratulations. But you're an asshole! And I DON'T want to celebrate anything with you, because I've got absolutely NOTHING to celebrate!" the blonde finished with teary eyes.

She gave the man one last look before walking with a heavy heart towards the bar opposite of the one Callie and Addison were at.

* * *

"Fuck" Callie groaned out in pain as she slowly opened her eyes. Her head was killing her. This had got to be the worst hangover ever. She slowly sat up in bed and paused for a second as it felt like everything she drank yesterday might come back up.

As her stomach settled she moved her duvet aside and swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her pantsuit from last night was thrown on the floor along with her heels. Callie made her way to the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The woman staring back at her bore clear evidence that last night had been rough. She still had on her makeup and it was evident on her eyes that she'd been crying and her hair was still in her up do, though it wasn't really in any state to be worn outside the house anymore.

The brunette groaned and started slowly removing her makeup along with the pins and elastics holding her hair in place. Once that was done she shuffled out of the bedroom and made her way downstairs. She went straight to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and moved to make her way to the living room to lie down on the couch.

She paused as she crossed the hallway though. Deserted by the door was a pair of sublime, black fuck-me heels that Callie knew didn't belong to her but to a certain blonde. Callie furrowed her brows in confusion. She was pretty sure, that she'd told Arizona she didn't want her to come home with her last night.

Callie had no recollection of the two of them making up after that. And if they did, why wasn't the blonde lying next to her in the bed. Where was she? "Arizona?" the brunette called out but was met with silence. "Arizona?" she tried again a little louder, but still didn't get a reply.

Then the brunette made her way to check for the blonde in the backyard but she wasn't there. Callie walked back upstairs. She slowly and silently made her way towards the guest bedroom and opened the door. Lying on her stomach on top of the covers was Arizona clad in a pair of barely there thongs and Callie's favorite 'Tell me what you really think' t-shirt, that the blonde had begged and begged to borrow, but had been denied every time by the brunette.

Callie sighed and moved to leave the room and close the door again. "How are you feeling?" a hoarse yet soft voice asked and startled the brunette.

"Like I've been run over by a bus" Callie answered as she steadily made her way into the room to sit down on the bed.

Arizona turned around on her back and looked at the other woman. "I figured you probably would."

The brunette couldn't help herself as she reached out and briefly caressed an ivory thigh. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

The blonde sighed. "I know I wasn't supposed to. And I'll get dressed and leave if you want me to. But you were REALLY drunk and I couldn't just go home without making sure you got back here safely. You put up quite the fight though and it took me like fifteen minutes to get you to even come inside once we got here. You were really set on not wanting to be in the same house as me. But then you finally came inside, went straight to the bedroom and forbade me to enter" Arizona looked down on the caramel hand resting on the sheets after caressing her thigh moments earlier. "So I waited downstairs in the living room for an hour before going in there to check on you. You'd gotten out of your clothes and into you sleep wear and were already snoozing under your covers. I knew you wouldn't want to wake up next to me today, so I left the bedroom and went in here" the blonde finished with a shrug.

Callie reached out and pulled at the hem of the shirt. "It seems you did a little more than just check on me before leaving my room" the brunette stated.

Arizona blushed a little. "Sorry about that. I was just…" tears pooled in blue eyes "…I was just so sad. About everything that happened last night. And then I had to come in here and sleep instead of lying next to you and I just couldn't…" the blonde closed her eyes and inhaled before opening her eyes again making a few tears roll down her cheeks "…I just needed something to soothe me."

The brunette's heart broke as she looked at her girlfriend. "It's okay. I get that. I would have felt the same way if the tables had been turned."

Blue eyes connected with brown. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I know you're hurt by what…" Arizona started but was interrupted by Callie who rose from the bed.

"I can't bear to talk about that right now Arizona. I'm exhausted" the brunette said as she walked out of the room.

Arizona shot of the bed and followed the other woman. She felt a little exposed in her skimpy underwear but she quickly bottled that feeling as she chased Callie down the stairs. "Please Callie. I can't go to Georgia when things between us are like this. Right now I don't even know for sure if I still have a girlfriend to tell my dad and Tim about" the blonde let out resignedly.

This caused the brunette to stop her descend on the stairs and turn around. The blonde who'd stopped a couple of steps above her had tears slowly running down her cheeks. Callie sighed. "Of course you do Arizona. I just…" the brunette paused and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking at the other woman again. "Even though I kind of get why you did it, I'm still really mad at you! Our relationship should mean more to you than your friendship with Mark or his desire to decide for himself when he told me. I should mean more to you than that. Your first priority should be to soothe ME! Your loyalty should lie with ME" the brunette exclaimed resignedly.

At that Arizona started sobbing. She knew Callie was right. The brunette should be the most important person to her. And her wellbeing should come before anyone else's. She expected the same thing from the brunette. "I'm so sorry Calliope. I just…" the blonde paused and looked at her girlfriend with regretful eyes.

Callie sighed. "Fine. Let's go to the living room and talk it out" the brunette stated before making her way down the stairs.

The blonde stood there for a minute trying to gather herself. It was very clear that she had to come up with something really good to make Callie forgive her for this.

Arizona slowly made her way down the rest of the stairs and went into the living room. Callie was standing at the photo wall looking at the picture of Arizona's parents' house. The blonde hesitantly made her way to the other woman. They stood there in silence for some time before Arizona spoke up. "Are you still going to come visit me while I'm there if it's possible?" she choked out as another wave of tears made their way down her cheeks.

"I don't know" Callie truthfully answered. Then she turned towards the blonde. "I really want to understand your way of reasoning, Arizona! I love you! And I HATE feeling like this. Being this angry with you."

The blonde slowly reached out for Callie's hand giving her the chance to pull away. Arizona was so thankful when she didn't. She tightly grasped a tanned hand and steered Callie towards the couch. When the brunette sat down, Arizona let go of Callie's hand and sat down on the coffee table facing the other woman.

"First I want to let you know that I'm really, really sorry. And I understand why you're mad at me." Arizona reached up and wiped away a few of her tears even though it was pointless because they just kept coming.

"I walked in on them holding hands on one of the sets Friday after Easter. I had just spent three days trying to hunt you down and get you to talk to me because you were ignoring me because I wasn't ready to go public with our relationship. And then Mark just stood there pleading with me not to tell you because he needed to do it at his own pace. I don't think I've ever been able to relate to another person's plea as much as I did that day, Callie. He very clearly wasn't ready for you to find out. And I didn't think it was my story to tell. He wanted to do that himself, and I couldn't deny him that. And so I promised him I wouldn't tell you" the blonde choked out.

The brunette just sat there staring at her for a second. Then she raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "That's it? Come on Arizona, you have to do better than that!"

Arizona looked at her girlfriend. "I'm sorry! I don't know what else you want me to say Callie!" the blonde said as she threw her hands in the air.

"Fine, so you sympathized with his sorry ass in that moment. But why didn't you DEMAND that he'd tell me? Why didn't you tell me anyway as a way to easy my nerves, when I was scared to death about telling him about you and me? I could have kept my mouth shut about knowing. Why didn't you tell me when I came back from dinner with him and he still hadn't told me even though the moment had been perfect to do so? When would you have lost patience with him Arizona?" Callie said with a raised voice. Then tears made their way to brown eyes. "If I hadn't walked in on them sucking face yesterday would you have cared at all when or if I ever found out?"

Arizona sighed. "Of course I would have cared, Callie" the blonde let out with a crack to her voice. "He told me he'd tell you before hiatus was over."

"Oh good! So I would only, possibly, have been left in the dark for three more months! That's nice" Callie deadpanned.

"I'm so sorry. I love you" Arizona said dejectedly as she shook her head.

The duo was interrupted by a knock on the door. Callie sighed, ran her hand through her very messy hair and made her way to the door. "Why are you here?" Arizona heard the brunette ask. Then Mark came into view. He cast a quick glance at Arizona, but very quickly returned his gaze to her as his brain registered the distressed state the blonde was in. "Arizona!" Mark breathed out in sympathy as he looked at her with compassionate eyes.

Arizona just shook her head dejectedly as fresh tears ran down her now puffy and red cheeks. Mark made his way to her and pulled her in for a big hug. "Fuck, I'm so sorry for causing this!"

As the man hugged the blonde close he couldn't help but let his eyes wonder down to a perfectly shaped ivory ass. A move that didn't go unnoticed by the brunette who still stood in the doorway. "You better stop that right now Mark Sloan or you'll just piss me off even more and then I WILL kill you with my bare hands!" Callie said with evident anger in her voice.

Mark quickly pulled back and looked at the brunette with schooled confusion. "What do you mean Cal?" he questioned.

The brunette moved into the living room and put herself between Mark and Arizona. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Keep your eyes of her naked ass!" Callie said determinately.

Arizona couldn't' help but smile a little at the brunette's protectiveness of her. She watched as Mark held his hands in the air defensively. "I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Callie asked exasperated as she rubbed her forehead. She felt her headache getting worse by the second.

Mark looked at Arizona compassionately for a second before moving his gaze back to Callie. "I came to tell you, that you should be mad at me. You should shut me out Cal. This is my fault. She's a really good person. And she loves you a lot, I can tell. You need to give her a break."

"This isn't your fight Mark" Callie said seriously.

Mark nodded his head. "Yeah, it is. Because she's in this fucking mess because of me."

"She's in this fucking mess because she's a liar" the brunette exclaimed.

"To be completely fair though, she didn't lie Callie. I'm pretty sure you never asked her if I were romantically involved with Andrew" Mark tried to joke.

"No I just asked her if you were okay, because you seemed sad but at the same time happy. And she told me you were fine. Which I'm sure you were, but to me it was still a lie because she knew what was going on with you" Callie stated.

Mark sighed. "She was just being an awesome friend. And I know that you should come before anyone or anything else to her, but it's not like she could just tell me, that she couldn't keep my secret because she was madly in love with you. Things were really complicated for her" the man tried to reason with his ex-wife.

A single tear made its way down a caramel cheek. "I know. They were for me too. And the only thing that made them seem a little less complicated was the fact that I knew I had her by my side. Except now it doesn't feel like I had. Now it feels like she's standing between me and you. There isn't much different in the secret she kept for you and the one she kept for me" Callie said with a cracking voice.

"Well except for the fact that you get to stare at her naked ass" Mark joked.

The brunette's eyes raged with anger in a second. "Jesus Christ is everything a joke to you, Mark. Do you get how heartbroken this makes me? How heartbroken this makes her? You get that you're an asshole who turned our lives upside down last night, right?"

Mark opened his mouth to say something but Arizona beat him too it. "Forget about him for a second Calliope" the blonde spoke softly.

She paused and took in a deep breath as Callie turned to look at her before she continued. "I made a mistake Callie! And I know it was a big one, but I need you to forgive me. Because I love you and we didn't even have a chance to give this relationship a real shot. Please don't let this one mistake ruin us. You're the only person I have ever imagined spending the rest of my life with. That means something to me. YOU mean something to me. You mean EVERYTHING to me. Please Callie!" Arizona pleaded with the other woman.

The brunette looked at her girlfriend and felt a stream of tears make their way down her cheeks. "I'm not going to let it ruin us Arizona. I promise. But right now I think I need you to leave. Both of you." She paused at the broken look on the blonde's face. "I'm hung over and I've got the worst headache in the world. Tomorrow I have to go to Las Vegas to work and I need to spend today recovering. And processing. I can't do that with either of you here. Maybe Mark can give you a ride home?" Callie asked as she turned towards her ex-husband.

Mark just looked at the two women before nodding his head.

"Do you want me to postpone my flight tomorrow? When are you flying out? We could meet up before you had to leave." Arizona said with watery eyes.

"I think you should just go to Georgia as planned and then I'll go to Nevada and then we'll call and text each other and see how everything goes, okay? I need some space from this" Callie said as she gestured between the two of them. "I love you, and I want you to know that I'm not breaking up with you. I just need to process this and think it through. Because I'm still mad at you. And I need to get a chance to get over that. I will get over it, I promise, but I'm going to need some time" the brunette finished.

Arizona nodded her head softly in understanding. "Okay. If that's what you want, then I'll leave." the blonde tearfully let out.

Callie reached out and gently grabbed an ivory hand. "I'm sorry Arizona. I'm sorry that things are like this. I'm sorry that we don't get to spend this day together before parting for the hiatus. But I just can't. Please understand" the brunette begged.

The blonde squeezed a caramel hand. "It's okay. I…" Arizona sighed as a tear once again spilled over and ran down her cheek. "I'm going to go get dressed."

With that the blonde reluctantly let go of Callie's hand and made her way up the stairs towards the guest bedroom. Both Callie and Mark followed the retreating woman with their eyes.

"You're an idiot Callie. She loves you. And she's unbelievably heartbroken about this. I mean look at her! She's a mess. And yet you're letting her travel all the way to Georgia like this. She doesn't even know for sure, when she gets to see you again. That's not fair, Cal" Mark firmly stated.

Callie looked at Mark in disbelief. "I know it's not fair, Mark. Nothing about this is fair. But she put us in this situation in the first place. And I need to deal with this my way. And I need to not be around her for some time. It SUCKS that this is happening right now, but I don't know what else to do. She's better off not being around me right now. Because I will go off at her every two seconds if she's here. And I'm afraid it will make her crack. And this is not going to ruin us. You are not going to ruin us."

Mark looked apologetic at Callie. "I'm sorry for this. I didn't mean for any of it to happen."

"I know" the brunette sighed. "But it did. And I'm still processing the fact that you didn't tell me sooner too. Because I really felt that you and I had a moment at our dinner. To me things were as close to normal between the two of us as they'll ever be. But you didn't tell me one of the most significant things happening in your life. And I know we can't be best friends or anything like we used to when we were married, but you are important to me, Mark. I wish you all the best. I want you to be happy. And it breaks my heart that you doubted that" Callie let out with a slight crack to her voice.

Mark smiled sadly at his ex-wife. "I'm sorry Cal. I should have thought higher of you. How about we have a do-over of that dinner once we're back from hiatus? We'll talk about this. Really talk. Because you are important to me too."

Callie returned the smile. "I'd like that."

The two of them were interrupted by the sound of feet shuffling down the stairs. A second later Arizona appeared clad in her orange dress from last night. "Ready to go?" she asked Mark.

The man nodded his head and the three of them went out into the hall. Arizona bent down and picked up her heels with one hand. Then an awkward silence sat in. Callie looked at Arizona. Even completely dissolved by the intense crying her girlfriend was beautiful.

The brunette stepped forward and pulled the blonde to her in a hug. "Have fun in Georgia and enjoy your time off. You've deserved it" Callie tenderly said as she kissed the top of the other woman's head before pulling back.

Arizona couldn't help herself. She reached out and pulled her girlfriend to her by her neck in a searing kiss. "Kick ass in Las Vegas" the blonde choked out when they parted minutes later. "I'll text you when I get to Georgia. Text me or call me anytime you want to, okay? I love you Calliope. Please don't forget that." Then Arizona let go of Callie and her and Mark made their way through the door and towards Mark's car.

 **That's it for chapter 25. They are parting without making up for real. How is that going to affect the both of them? Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

 **Until then; let me know what you thought of this one!**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	26. Chapter 26

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys!**

 **First let me say congrats to Portugal on winning the EUROs! :)**

 **Wow, you really dislike Callie now – I hope she redeems herself to you sometime during the next few chapters :) Thank you for all of your reviews. I'm still so happy you like my story!**

 **Beachii92: I'm travelling with a friend, who's got family that lives in Kuala Lumpur, and we're living with them, so that will be our base. And then we'll take trips from there, e.g. to Singapore and to an island for some beach time. I'll try my best to post pictures on Twitter during my trip ;)**

 **Loorena22: Yeah, they definitely need to talk about it all sometime, because they need to know what the other person is thinking – and I hope Callie gets some of her points back with you.**

 **To the guest who's afraid something is going to happen to Arizona: I hadn't even thought about that. But you're right. And Callie would have been devastated about that.**

 **AnnaBir: Me too. But hopefully you won't continue to dislike her character forever :D**

 **Scampers0213: Hopefully you'll all understand (and like) Callie better after the next couple of chapters. Obviously Arizona and Callie need to talk about what's going on.**

 **Linda101: Thank you ;)**

 **An here's chapter 26 for you. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :)**

CHAPTER 26:

Arizona hadn't heard from Callie since leaving her house yesterday. And she was feeling really disheartened by that. She'd really hurt Callie and even though the brunette had assured Arizona that she wasn't breaking up with her, Arizona still doubted that their relationship would be able to survive this.

The blonde sighed as she made her way out of her parents' car. Barbara and Daniel Robbins looked at each other with wondering eyes. Their daughter had been uncharacteristically quiet during the ride from the airport. They too got out of the car and Daniel went to get his daughter's suitcase from the trunk.

"What's wrong Arizona?" Barbara asked her daughter in concern.

Blue orbs gazed at her mother with tears shining in them. The older Robbins woman's heart broke at the sight. "Oh honey. Please tell us what's going on." she delicately asked.

Arizona smiled a little at her mom and then her gaze shifted to her dad who looked equally worried. "Is Tim here?" the younger blonde asked.

"Yes, he's in the workshop. Why?" Daniel replied.

"Could you go get him? I need to tell you something." Arizona softly let out.

Her dad instantly looked even more worried, but her mother's look shifted to one of realization. "Of course. But are you okay?" the man hesitantly asked.

Arizona smiled. "I'm fine. Well obviously not FINE fine. But what I need to tell you isn't bad. At least I don't think so."

At that Daniel nodded his head, made his way towards the house to put down his daughters luggage and go get his son from the workshop.

Arizona turned towards her mother. "I fucked up so bad mom! She's so hurt and mad and I don't know what to do to fix it" the blonde let out dejectedly.

Barbara walked to her daughter and put her arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure you can figure it out honey. You need to fight for her."

The younger blonde sighed. "I don't know that we can. And she just wants to be left alone for now." Arizona looked at her mother with tear filed eyes. "I told her I love her. A week ago I told her I love her, and now I don't even know when I get to see her again. It can be more than two months from now at Teddy and Addison's wedding."

Barbara smiled. "You told her you love her? Arizona honey, that is great. Did she say it back?"

"Yeah, she did" Arizona breathed out with a dreamy smile. "And I've never been happier to hear someone tell me that."

Barbara squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "I'm happy for you. And I'm sure she won't let two months pass. Nobody can stay away from their loved ones for two months." The elder Robbins smiled encouragingly at her daughter. "Come on. You should go tell your dad and Tim all about her."

The two women walked to the house just as Tim and Daniel came through the patio door.

"Az, what's wrong?" Tim asked at the sight of his sister.

Arizona smiled at her brother. "Please sit down and I'll tell you."

Tim and Daniel quickly sat down at the table followed by Arizona and Barbara who sat down across from the men.

The younger blonde woman took in a deep breath and looked at her dad and her brother with a big smile. "I met someone. Actually I'm in love with someone" Arizona honestly said as she felt her mother's hand rest on one of her thighs.

Tim looked a little confused at his sister. "But that should be a good thing, right. And you don't look too happy."

Arizona smiled at her dad and brother. "It is a good thing. And we just had a bit of a falling out before I came here, which is why I look like this. But I need to tell you something about this someone" the younger blonde woman stated gently.

She once again took in a deep breath as she averted her gaze to the table for a second. She could do this. Then her eyes locked on the two men sitting across from her and when her mother squeezed her thigh in comfort Arizona spoke. "I'm in love with Callie Torres."

Daniel Robbins' eyes widened for a second but he quickly schooled his features. Tim however had his jaw resting on the dining table. "As in Callie Torres, the WOMAN Callie Torres?" the younger blonde man asked his sister in disbelief.

Arizona looked at her brother and nodded her head. "Yes Tim. I'm head over heels in love with the WOMAN Callie Torres. Do you have a problem with that?" the blonde woman asked her brother pointedly.

"Of course not. Give me some credit Arizona!" Tim responded equally pointedly. Then his expression softened. "I'm just surprised. I didn't know you were attracted to women. And according to the, hopefully correct, gossip magazines she just divorced Mark Sloan who she was with for nearly a decade."

The blonde woman smiled a little at her brother. "I'm not attracted to women. I'm attracted to her. She's the first and only woman I've ever been drawn to. And she did just divorce Mark Sloan who she was with for nearly a decade. And I'm the first woman she's been with too. We kind of just figure it out together as we go" Arizona gently explained.

The young blonde woman then looked at her father. "Dad? Please tell me what you're thinking?" Arizona vulnerably asked.

Daniel looked at his daughter and smiled. "It doesn't make a difference to me what gender you date Arizona. You're my flesh and blood. My little girl. I want you to be happy. And if you've found the person to do that, then I couldn't be more delighted."

The Robbins patriarch then turned serious. "But like Tim said, you don't look happy. And that worries me. What did she do?"

Arizona shook her head. "She didn't do anything. It was me. I was an idiot who betrayed her trust. And now she doesn't want anything to do with me" the blonde woman sighed. "But I promised her I would tell you guys about her. And no matter how things are between her and I, I wasn't about to break that promise. Mom has known for some time and I talked to her about telling you guys and I've kind of invited Callie here during my stay. I'm absolutely positive that she won't come though, but should she tell me otherwise, I'll let you know" Arizona said with a shrug.

Daniel, Barbara and Arizona were all a bit startled as Tim groaned loudly before dumping his forehead on the table. "I can't believe YOU hooked up with the woman of my dreams!" the young blonde man murmured against the surface of the table.

The older Robbins couple chuckled at their son's antics. Arizona snorted "I'm going to tell Amanda you said that!"

Tim looked up at his sister. "Please don't. She'll think I don't love her. Or worse; she'll think I'm ridiculous!"

Arizona laughed. "You are! I'm sorry I stole the woman of your dreams. Well that's a lie actually. Because I'm not sorry. But she makes me happy, and I'm sure you're glad that I'm the one to reel her in when you couldn't do it yourself" the blonde woman said with a wink at her brother.

Daniel and Barbara chuckled again and Tim stuck his tongue out towards his sister. Arizona smiled at him and rose from her chair. "Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom. Thank you for being okay with this. Not that I ever doubted that, it just…it means a lot" the young blonde woman stated sincerely.

They all smiled at her and Arizona left the kitchen and headed for the bathroom. After locking the door she fished her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it. She had no new messages. The blonde decided to text Callie and let her know she'd made it to Georgia like she said she would.

 _*Hey. Just wanted to let you know that I made it to my mom and dad's. I told my dad and Tim about you. It went really well. They fully accept it. Although Tim was slightly jealous that I hooked up with you. And I can't blame him for that. Have a safe trip to Las Vegas. I love you Callie. More than you'll ever know. – Arizona._

The blonde looked at herself in the mirror. She crossed her fingers that Callie texted her back. Then the blonde sighed loudly. She really hoped she'd find a way to fix this.

* * *

Callie had been in Las Vegas for a week. She had yet to talk to Arizona, but they'd shared a few texts. The brunette had texted Arizona back at her first break after she received the message from the blonde telling Callie that she made it safe to Georgia and that she'd stayed true to her word and told her dad and Tim about her relationship with the brunette.

The brunette opened her text conversation with her girlfriend.

 _*Hi. Thank you for letting me know. I've just touched down in Vegas. And thank you for telling them. I'm glad they approved. I love you too. – Callie_

Two days later the blonde had texted again.

 _*How is Vegas treating you? And how are you doing with the movie? I want you to know that the offer of coming here during your break still stands. I would really like to see you. - Arizona_

Callie hadn't replied to that and Arizona had texted again two days later.

 _*Hi. Again. I know that you're mad at me Callie and I get that. And you're probably busy. Because you're a really dedicated and hardworking person. But I really need you to not ignore me. I'm sorry. – Arizona_

The brunette hadn't meant to ignore the blonde's first message but she had actually been very busy during those days. She'd texted Arizona back as soon as she got the second text.

 _*Hey. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to ignore you. Promise. I've just been unbelievably busy. So far shooting is going great. We're ahead of schedule. Still don't know when I've got a break. Probably won't be able to make it to Georgia after all. Sorry. – Callie_

She'd lied to her girlfriend in that text. Because Callie had a break coming next week. But she just didn't know if she was up for visiting the blonde and meeting her family.

Callie sighed, found Jael's number and pressed the call button. Her sister picked up after a few rings. "Hey Big-C! How is Sin City?"

The brunette smiled at hearing her sister's voice. "It's fine. Been really busy though. I haven't really had a chance to explore it yet."

"Boo" Jael exclaimed loudly making Callie chuckle. "I'll come visit you and we'll hit the casinos and the clubs."

"That would be really great" Callie stated tenderly.

"Why are you calling hermanita? From the tone of your voice I can tell that something is up so please don't make me work too hard for it and just spit it out" Jael said.

The brunette sighed into the phone. "You know me too well! And it's Arizona" Callie paused for a second. "I need to tell you something Jael and I really, REALLY need you to not tell anyone about it."

"Of course not. What's up?" Jael gently asked.

"Mark is dating Andrew Deluca. You know the guy that plays Dr. Gaccianit on the show" the brunette kept talking as Jael gasped on the other end "and it turns out that Arizona has known about it for more than a month. Without telling me. Even though she knew I was struggling really hard to tell Mark about her and I. But then I busted Mark and Andrew at the wrap party. And then Arizona and I had to part for the hiatus. I actually kind of threw her out of my house the day after the wrap party. You remember she invited me to come meet her parents during her visit there. I have a break coming up, but I haven't told her because I don't know if I want to go meet her family when things are like this" Callie softly finished.

Jael sighed. "First of all; OH. MY. GOD! Mark, your I'm-such-a-stud-and-God's-gift-to-women ex-husband Mark, is dating a GUY?" the younger brunette asked gaping.

Callie chuckled "Yeah I know! Caught me by surprise as well."

"As for Arizona." Jael let out a little sigh before continuing "I know there's more to the story than the gist you've just given me, but I don't think that's really important Big-C. I know she probably hurt you a lot. But you should stop focusing on that. Was she sorry she did it? From what you've told me about her I bet she was. And that should be reason enough for you to move on from this. You need to ask yourself if you miss her, hermanita. Forget about her parents. Do you want to go see HER?"

Callie breathed out audibly. "Yeah I do. I miss her tremendously and it's only been a week."

"Then I think you found your answer. I think you should go to Georgia" Jael softly stated. Then her tone of voice got a little more serious. "And I think you need to be careful Big-C. I get that feeling betrayed is awful. But you have to be cautious you're not pushing her away. For good. You guys should process this together, not apart. Talk it out. Yell at each other. Whatever. Just…be careful you're not pushing her too far away. You'll regret it for the rest of your life, hermanita."

The older brunette exhaled loudly. "Yeah I will." Callie cast a glance at the clock on the wall of her trailer. "I need to go. I'm shooting again in ten minutes. Thank you Jael. I'll think about going to Georgia next week. You should definitely visit me during one of my breaks. Maybe bring Aria as well? Then I'll arrange for Rei to come visit me some other time. That way she won't feel left out."

"I'll call Aria right away and ask if she's up for it. But I'm sure she is! And think about what I said hermanita. Don't push her away" the younger Torres sister stated.

Callie smiled. "I'll try not to. Love you J! Say hi to mom and dad from me. And tell them I can't wait to see them next month."

"I will. And I love you too. Go back to work. Call me later if you need to talk more" Jael said before disconnecting the call.

The brunette sighed and closed her eyes for a second, gathering her thoughts, before putting her phone in her pocket and making her way out of the trailer and back to the set.

* * *

"Urgh!" Barbara and Daniel Robbins watched as their daughter hurled her phone onto the couch cushions before sitting down in an armchair with her head in her hands.

"Still no word from Callie today?" Barbara asked her obviously displeased daughter.

"No" the younger blonde let out with a huff. Callie hadn't been generous with the text messages these past 10 days she'd been in Vegas, but for the past four days Arizona had gotten at least a text a day. And waiting for the texts was driving the blonde crazy every single day.

Arizona had spent the majority of her time at her parents' house thinking about nothing else but her fight with her girlfriend. She got that Callie was hurt but she'd started feeling more and more like Callie's treatment of her was unfair. If the brunette wanted to keep being with the blonde then Arizona deserved more than a distant text message a day.

Barbara watched as her daughter's eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. "Honey, I'm sure she's just busy."

The younger blonde woman shook her head. "She's not. Not that busy." Then Arizona looked at her mother. "What if she decides she doesn't want to be with me anymore?"

"She won't Arizona. You told me she promised you that wouldn't happen. I'm sure she's going to stick by her word" Barbara softly said.

The younger blonde woman looked at her phone which lay on the couch. She'd been permanently attached to the device to make sure she replied instantly when Callie sent her a text. But did the brunette even think about her that much? Or was she just spending her time having fun in Vegas?

Arizona closed her eyes. The thought of Callie deciding to leave her was unbearable. But at the same time the blonde just felt like she needed to know the state of their relationship for sure soon.

The blonde honestly felt like she'd made a decent attempt at mending the relationship the morning after the wrap party. And she did get that Callie was hurt and mad and needed time, she would have too. But enough was enough.

Arizona sighed. Keeping the secret as a favor to Mark was the good thing to do as his friend. But it was the wrong thing to do as Callie's girlfriend. And she knew that. Of course she knew that. But she was paying for it big time and she had been for the past 10 days.

Mark had texted Arizona a few times asking how she was doing, but the blonde had yet to reply. Because she was still really disappointed in her co-star. Callie had apparently forgiven Mark just like that. And the man seemed to be fine with that. Sure he'd appeared at the brunette's door the day after the wrap party, but it seemed he'd taken the whole thing very lightly, and Arizona didn't really know if his presence had helped or made things worse.

The blonde couldn't quite grasp how Callie could just forgive Mark that easily more than a week ago but seemed to barely be able to handle texting Arizona, her supposed girlfriend.

"I'm going to go to the workshop and help Tim" the younger blonde informed her parents as she rose from the chair and made her way towards the patio door.

"You forgot your phone, honey" Barbara said to her retreating daughter.

"Nope" Arizona shouted back just as she made her way out the door and into the yard.

* * *

Callie nervously looked at her own reflection in the rearview mirror for the fiftieth time. She could do this. The texts from Arizona had been very short the last few days and that bothered the brunette. Callie closed her eyes for a second, exhaled loudly, got out of the rental car and made her way to the front door. She rang the doorbell and after what felt like an eternity it was opened. The brunette smiled at the woman at the door. Even though she'd never met her before, there was no doubt in her mind. This was definitely Arizona's mother.

"Hey. Mrs. Robbins? I'm…" the brunette started.

"I know who you are Callie" Barbara interrupted gently. "It's good to finally meet you. Come in!" the blonde woman said as she moved from the door to let the guest walk inside.

Callie stood in the hallway waiting for her girlfriend's mother to close the front door. "Arizona didn't tell me you were coming. In fact she told me you probably wouldn't be" the blonde woman smiled.

The brunette sighed a little. "She doesn't know I'm here. I…" Callie paused and looked at Barbara. "I'm sure she's told you how we parted. And I just missed her. A lot. She told me a few weeks ago that it would be okay for me to visit, and I just thought…" the brunette trailed off.

Barbara looked at the woman in front of her. She was clearly feeling as down as her own daughter. "Of course it's okay for you to visit. Anytime you want! And yes, she told me about your fight. She was heartbroken when she got here Callie" the older Robbins stated.

"Was? She's not anymore?" the brunette hesitantly asked.

"I'm not sure I like the fact that it sounds like you're disappointed about that" Barbara said with a glint in her eyes letting Callie know that she was only partially serious.

"I'm not! Disappointed I mean. It's just that I'm worried what her getting past that means for me. Us. I know I'm still heartbroken about this whole thing" the brunette gently said.

Barbara smiled a little at the nervous look on the brunette's face. Then she studied the other woman who had conquered her daughter's heart so fiercely. "I'm going to make the most of being alone with you and use this opportunity to tell you something" the blonde woman said seriously but with a gentle smile grazing her lips. The brunette looked up at her girlfriend's mother and locked her eyes on blue ones a shade darker that those of her girlfriend.

"My Arizona is not a woman who gives away her heart easily. Every time she got a new boyfriend she's always been kind of guarded. Time and time again I've whished for her to just let herself go. To just enjoy the moment and the person she is with. And then she told me about your kiss Callie, and even though she was confused and overwhelmed she's never had a sparkle like that in her eyes" Barbara let out.

The blonde granted the brunette a small smile. "She told me she told you that she loves you. It took her more than six months to tell her last boyfriend that. You're special to her. You make her happy. Well most of the time anyway. And as her mother I beg you not to take all of that for granted. Don't take HER for granted. I already like you Callie. You've been so patient and affectionate with her and I'll never be able to thank you enough for that. But these two weeks have been so hard on her. And it's been unbearable to me every day she dragged herself out of bed and looked more and more worn out. You need to make amends with her because if you don't I'm not sure I'll continue to like you" Barbara finished.

Callie looked at her girlfriend's mother with teary eyes. "She's very special to me too, Mrs. Robbins. I promise you. I was married for ten years, and while he was great and I was very happy in our marriage, being with Arizona is nothing like anything I've ever experienced before. I love her. No words can even begin to describe how much. Which is why I felt so betrayed by her, I think. But I'm here because these past two weeks have been torture. I miss her. And I want nothing more than to make amends. I just pray I'm not too late" the brunette finished with a sigh.

"You can call me Barbara, Callie. And I pray you're not too late as well" the blonde woman smiled. "Can I get you anything?" she asked.

Callie shook her head. "No thank you. I just need to see Arizona" the brunette breathed out.

The blonde woman's smile got bigger at the need in the other woman's voice. "She's at the workshop with her dad and brother. It's just through here. I'll show you" Barbara said and moved out the patio door.

* * *

Arizona was in the process of making roses with hammer and chisel on a bench her dad had promised one of his neighbors. The work really helped soothe her mind. Even though her thoughts never seemed to leave Callie, her girlfriend and their current feud were less present in her mind when she worked with the wood. The blonde had really been doing some serious thinking these last few days and she'd moved from being sad and regretful to being hurt and a little angry.

Tim was standing opposite of her smoothing the rough edges of the bench with a file. Out of the corner of her eyes Arizona watched as all of Tim's movements stopped and then she heard a loud 'Holy shit!' leave her brother's lips.

She looked up and found him gazing dumbfounded at the door. She turned around and her breath caught in her throat. Standing in the door with a smiling Barbara Robbins behind her was an apprehensively looking Callie.

"Hey" the brunette let out with a soft voice as her eyes locked on the blonde's.

"Hey" Arizona replied. Before either of them had the chance to say anything else, Tim had shot past his sister and was now standing in front of Callie.

"Oh my God! You really are Callie Torres!" Tim let out gaping.

The brunette took in the man before her. He was very obviously a masculine version of her girlfriend. Though he had a broader and more prominent jaw structure and his eyes didn't have quite the distinctive color of blue that her girlfriend's eyes had, he and Arizona looked unbelievably alike.

Callie smiled back and reached her hand out for the man to take. "I am" she smiled. "You must be Tim. I've heard a lot about you" the brunette finished with a smile.

Tim smiled back "And I've heard everything about you. I'm a huge fan" he said and turned his smile to his sister who hadn't moved from her spot in the workshop. He frowned and turned his attention to his dad. "Dad, why don't we give these two a chance to catch up?" Tim asked.

Daniel Robbins smiled at his son. He knew that Tim meant well, but he couldn't help but be a little hesitant towards the woman who'd so easily turned his daughter into an introverted shell of herself. "Of course" he said as he moved towards the doorway.

When he reached Callie he gave her a firm handshake. "It's good to finally meet you Callie" he said with a serious expression on his face.

Callie gulped. "You too Mr. Robbins" the brunette choked out as they shook hands. Then Barbara, Tim and Daniel left and the two women were suddenly alone.

The brunette made her way into the workshop and stepped up to the bench her girlfriend was working on. She traced her hand along the outlines of a rose. "It's really beautiful Arizona" she tenderly said.

Arizona looked at her girlfriend. She couldn't believe she was here. She was both relieved and infuriated at seeing the other woman. "What are you doing here Callie" the blonde asked with a little more bite than she meant to.

Callie was slightly taken aback by the tone. "I came to see you" she honestly and softly stated.

"Why?" Arizona asked. "You were kind of adamant about not wanting to spend time with me the last time we saw each other."

The brunette looked sadly at the blonde. "I know. And I'm so sorry about that. That's why I'm here. To tell you, that I'm sorry." Callie sighed. "Even though I don't think I was wrong to be mad at you, I was a bit harsh, and I'm sorry about that."

Arizona felt tears brim her eyes. "I apologized a thousand times Callie. And you still acted as if I committed the greatest sin of all time."

"I know. And I'm so sorry Arizona. I just…" Callie paused. "Finally I'd been feeling like you and I were on the exact same page in this. God we were in such a great place. But then all of a sudden I discovered that you were as loyal to Mark as you were to me and that just made me feel so…" the brunette exhaled "so stupid and insignificant to you. Suddenly I equaled Mark to you and that…"

"You think that?" Arizona asked unbelieving. "You seriously think you equaled Mark to me? I told you I loved you. That you smelled like home. That you were the best thing to ever happen to me. I invited you here to meet my parents. I got you a 1200 dollar book for your birthday for crying out loud" the blonde exclaimed loudly. "And all that just diminished to you because I had a secret with your ex-husband who happens to also be my friend?"

Callie's eyes widened. "It cost 1200 dollars?! That's insane Arizona!" At the serious look on her girlfriend's face the brunette sighed. "I love you. And I've really, really missed you. I know I don't equal Mark to you. I'm sorry I ever thought that. I would really like if we could spend some time together and just…get back to us" Callie softly added.

Arizona looked at the regretful face of her girlfriend. "You threw me out of your house. Because you needed to process and think about everything. And then you just show up here, because you're ready to move on from this. Well let me tell you something Callie; it's my turn to process!" The blonde had on the most serious face the brunette had ever seen. "I spend my first 10 days here being absolutely devastated. I checked my phone constantly in hopes of hearing anything from you, but I very rarely did that. And then it shifted. Then I realized that I needed to process this as well. YOU are not the only one who experienced something shockingly here. Your idiot ex-husband totally threw me under the bus in all of this. He tattled on me in a sorry attempt to save his own ass. And it worked. I need some time to wrap my head around why the hell that is" Arizona stated.

Then she looked straight at sad chocolate brown eyes. "I need you to go back to Las Vegas" the blonde finished.

A small heartbroken gasp left plump lips at those words. Callie couldn't believe it. She was too late. God she was such an idiot. Before she knew what was happening she felt tears softly glide down her tanned cheeks. "Okay" she rasped out.

"I'll walk you out." Arizona moved past Callie and started walking towards the house. She felt Callie follow her. As they reached the patio door the blonde held it open for the brunette to make her way through. Callie had clearly spent the time trying to get herself together. The tears had stopped, but Arizona could tell that it was only a matter of time before they were back. When the two women entered the kitchen three pairs of blue eyes gazed at them.

"It was really nice meeting you all. I've been looking forward to it ever since Arizona invited me here. But I need to go back to Las Vegas" Callie gently stated. She desperately tried to gather herself. She just had to keep up appearances until she made it out the door. Then she could let it go.

"You told her to leave?" Tim asked disbelieving as he looked at his sister.

Arizona opened her mouth to say something, but Callie beat her to it. "No she didn't. I'm really busy with my new movie. I just needed to see Arizona for a minute. I'll be back some other time, I promise. Because I'd really like to get to know the three of you a lot better" the brunette finished with a smile.

Then Callie looked at Barbara. "Thank you. For welcoming me like you did. I really enjoyed our little chat. Sadly our prayers weren't heard this time" the brunette let out with a tiny crack to her voice.

Barbara smiled softly at her. "I'm sorry about that. And you're welcome here any time Callie."

The brunette smiled gratefully at her girlfriend's mother. Then she turned to Arizona's dad. "Mr. Robbins. I'm really sorry we didn't get a chance to talk. I'm sure you've got a lot you would like to say to me or ask me. But we'll do that next time." The man nodded his head at her in return.

Callie took a step towards Tim and put her hand on his arm. "It was really nice meeting such a huge fan. And even though it's a little creepy that you've 'heard everything about me' I would have definitely been enamored with your obvious looks had your sister not swept me off my feet and made me fall madly in love with her already. I can't wait to get to know you better and for you to share all kinds of dirt on Arizona with me" Callie sincerely stated.

Tim gave her a crooked smile. "You're going to be blown away by some of the stuff I've got on her."

With a smile at the blonde man Callie turned to Arizona. "I'm glad you're thriving here in Georgia. You've really deserved to just wind down and think of something other than work. And it was definitely worth the trip to get to see your beautiful face. I'd really missed that." The brunette couldn't help herself and reached out to slowly trace her forefinger against an ivory cheek. "Stay safe. And let me know if you wish to come see me in Las Vegas, then I'll arrange for something."

Then Callie pulled back from the blonde and cleared her throat. "I'm going to go now. Bye." At that the brunette turned around and walked towards the hall and out the front door.

As the door closed behind her, Arizona felt the eyes of her parents and brother turn to stare at her. "I can't believe you told her to leave" Tim scolded Arizona. He didn't believe Callie's lie for one second. "And I can't believe you actually let her" he then added with a much softer voice and a knowing look aimed at his sister.

Arizona just stood there frozen, looking out to the empty hallway as her brother talked. "FUCK" she then exclaimed before rushing out the kitchen and out the door Callie just left through.

She reached the car just as the brunette was about to close the door on the driver's side. The blonde caught the door before it slammed shut and bend down slightly to look at her girlfriend. She was met with a sobbing Callie.

Arizona's whole body softened at the look on the brunette's face. "I'm sorry Calliope."

Callie just shook her head. "No. No. Don't be. You have every right to tell me to leave. I deserve that. I'm sorry Arizona. So, so sorry. About everything. I don't know what I was thinking, coming here unannounced; I just know that I needed to see you."

The blonde sighed. "Stay here" she said before slamming the door shut and moving to the passenger side. She got in the car and turned to look at her gorgeous girlfriend. "I get that you were hurt and mad Callie. I know I would have been too. And I know that the timing was just horrible. Had we still been shooting, then I'm positive you would have gotten over it a lot faster because we got to see each other. And I don't blame you for throwing me out the day after the wrap party, please believe that. But your thinking just gave me time to think as well."

Arizona reached out and interlaced her fingers with caramel ones. She reveled in once again feeling the other woman's hand in her own. "And when we stood in the workshop I for sure thought that I needed time to process and think without you. But as soon as you were out the door I knew that I was wrong. I need to spend some time with you. I WANT to spend some time with you."

Callie looked at cerulean blue eyes. "You do?" the brunette asked.

"I do" the blonde answered with a small smile. "We still need to talk and I still need you to explain to me some time why the hell you let Mark get off so easily while I got put through the ringer. But I'd really like it if you'd consider staying after all" Arizona softly finished.

"I'd love to. There's no place in the world I'd rather be than here with you" the brunette answered.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "How long can you stay?"

The brunette smiled a little. "Three days. It was all I could get. I can be here all of tomorrow and all of Monday and then I have to go back really early Tuesday morning."

The blonde caressed the back of Callie's hand. "Three days are perfect. When does your flight leave on Tuesday?"

"Whenever I want it to" Callie stated. "I borrowed by dad's plane. But 7 AM as the absolute latest."

Arizona nodded her head. "Okay. You want to go back inside? Or we can sit here a little longer if you want to."

The brunette shook her head. "No. Let's go back inside. I want to spend some more time with your family. They seem really nice" Callie said.

"They are. And they were really looking forward to meet you. I'm sure they are all going to be pleased that you're staying for a few days" the blonde let out.

The brunette looked at the other woman anxiously. "Yeah? I'm not sure I know what to tell them though. Having said I had to leave because of my movie and all."

Arizona chuckled. "Don't worry about that. Tim didn't believe you anyway. They all know I was a fool that asked you to leave."

Then the blonde removed her hand from Callie's, opened her door and got out. The brunette mirrored the move and went to the trunk to get her suitcase. "Let me take it" the blonde softly said. "You're the guest here."

Callie just continued to pull the suitcase out of the trunk. "I can carry it myself, it's no big deal." Then the two women made their way back to the house side by side. Arizona opened the door and Callie went inside. The brunette put her suitcase down and moved to the kitchen following her girlfriend.

"Hey, you're back" Tim stated. "I thought you were busy with your movie?" he asked smugly.

Callie started to say something but was cut off by a stern voice. "Leave her alone Tim! Let's just both acknowledge the fact that I was an idiot and leave it at that, okay?" Arizona said to her brother.

Tim raised his eyebrows at his sister's obvious protective manner towards the brunette. "Fine. You were an idiot. I'm so glad she didn't make it out the drive way, because you would have been excruciating to be around then!" the blonde man stated. Then he looked at Callie. "I'm happy you decided to stay."

The brunette smiled in return. Then she felt a very familiar hand make its way to rest on her lower back. She turned her smile to Arizona. "Go sit down. I'll get you something to drink" the blonde said tenderly as she smiled at the brunette.

Callie did as she was told and sat down at the kitchen table across from Daniel. The man looked at his daughter's girlfriend and gave her a tight smile. "So tell me Callie, what's your new movie about?"

The brunette smiled back at him. "Short version or long version?" she asked.

Daniel chuckled a little. "I'm going to go with the short version for now."

"Well I play a homosexual stripper. The movie is basically a story about her daily life. She struggles with balancing her work and her personal life" Callie replied.

"That sounds very interesting Callie. I'm sure it's not an easy portrayal to do" Daniel said with sincerity. The brunette smiled in return.

Tim's eyes widened. "Wait. You're telling me that in a couple of months people will be able to go to the movie theaters and see you naked?"

The brunette chuckled and shifted her gaze to her girlfriend for a second before turning her attention back to the younger blonde man. "Well not completely naked. But my breasts and ass will be shown, yes" Callie answered.

"No body double?" Tim asked.

Callie shook her head. "No body double."

Tim yelped as he was hit on the back of his head. "Stop picturing my girlfriend half naked!" Arizona sternly said before making her way to sit down next to the brunette. She put a glass of water down in front of her and was rewarded with a bright smile.

Tim shrugged his shoulder. "Well I can just go to the movies in…" the man looked at Callie for information about when the movie was out.

"November" Callie answered.

"…November and see her half naked if I want to. Then I won't have to imagine anything" Tim said with a smirk.

The blonde sent her brother a warning glare as the brunette next to her chuckled. "Or I can just go get my bikini from my suitcase right now and we can get it over with" Callie said as she took a sip of her water.

Tim gasped a little and Arizona turned her attention to her girlfriend. "Not that I'm not always up for you in a bikini, but I think we should give him a few days to dial down the fangirling before presenting him with your glorious body in a bikini. I'm afraid he'll have a heart attack" Arizona teasingly said.

Callie chuckled a little as Tim pouted at his sister's words.

"Will you be sleeping with Arizona in her room, Callie? Or you can stay in Tim's old room if you prefer that?" Barbara interrupted the talk.

The brunette paused and looked at Arizona. She had no idea how the blonde felt about sharing a bed with her when they were only somewhat okay. And in her parents' house. But the blonde just sat frozen in her chair and stared straight ahead. Callie then turned back to Barbara. "If it's not too much trouble, I think I'd like to stay in Tim's old room."

Callie watched as Arizona's whole body relaxed and her face had a relieved expression on it. The brunette knew it wasn't fair, but she couldn't help but be a little hurt at that. The blonde then turned and looked at her and Callie knew instantly that her girlfriend had detected the hurt.

"Callie…" the blonde began but the brunette cut her off and rose from her chair.

"It's fine Arizona. I get it" she smiled a little sadly at the other woman. "I'm going to go put my suitcase away now that's settled. It's just sitting in the hall. Just point me in the right direction and I'll locate the room myself."

The blonde rose from her seat as well. "No, let me show you where it is."

Callie smiled at Arizona's family before following her girlfriend out through the hall where she grabbed her suitcase and then up some stairs.

The first floor of the house had a large landing and five doors. The blonde let them towards the first door on the left. She opened it and beckoned for Callie to enter. "This is Tim's old room" Arizona softly said.

The brunette looked around. It was very obvious it was a guy's room. The walls were painted a light grey and it showed signs that posters had covered a lot of space on the walls in the past. The furniture was dark and the top of the desk was covered in Star Wars stickers.

"My mom always says that she's going to remodel our rooms, but I just don't think she has the heart to do it after all" the blonde stated.

Callie smiled. "I get that. My room in Miami is also exactly the same as I left it when I moved out from my parents' house." Then the brunette moved further in the room and put her suitcase down before she looked at Arizona. "Are you going to show me your room?" she asked with a small smile.

Arizona smiled back. "Absolutely. Come on."

The two women left the room and Callie closed the door behind her. Then they walked across the landing. Arizona opened the door and walked inside with the brunette following her. Callie couldn't help but smile. She didn't know what she was expecting, but this room screamed Arizona more than anything ever had.

The room had light pink walls and very bright wooden furniture. The bed cover had light purple flowers on it and an armchair sat in a corner with a floor lamp and a small table. The desk stood by the window overlooking the yard.

Callie moved to the desk and traced her hand across it. She could totally picture a teenage Arizona sitting there doing her homework and daydreaming about what her future held.

"So what do you think?" Arizona asked as she watched the other woman take in the room.

The brunette turned towards the blonde and smiled. "I love it. It oozes you. It even smells like you in here. I would have been able to tell that this was your room even if I had been blindfolded when we entered."

Arizona chuckled. "I'm glad you like it" the blonde then moved to stand next to the brunette. "What do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

Callie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It's already 4 pm, so I'm thinking we might as well just stay here for the rest of the day. You can go finish up the bench in the workshop if you want to. I can just sit and watch. It's fine. Then maybe tomorrow you could show me some of Little Creek?" the brunette suggested.

The blonde nodded her head. "I absolutely can." Then Arizona moved to leave the room, but a very soft, broken and pleading voice stopped her.

"Arizona?" Callie breathed out hesitantly as she felt water gather in her eyes.

Arizona turned around and looked at her very vulnerably looking girlfriend. "What is it?" she tenderly asked.

The brunette sighed and averted her gaze from Arizona and to the floor. "I know that things between us are a mess. And I know that we need to talk and I probably have a lot to make up for. And we can do that later. But I've missed you so much these past two weeks and I just…"

As soon as Callie had started talking, Arizona knew what the brunette was getting at and she just couldn't help herself to anything else but granting Callie what she wanted. She made her way to her girlfriend and connected her lips with plump ones. The blonde revelled in the taste and feeling of Callie's lips. She hadn't kissed her girlfriend in more than two weeks and she didn't realize how much she'd missed it until this second. As the brunette parted her lips slightly when she whimpered, Arizona slid her tongue in Callie's mouth and gently massaged her girlfriend's muscle.

As the need for air became too great, the blonde pulled back with one last peck to swollen lips. Then she reached up and wiped away the single tear that had left chocolate brown eyes. "Thank you for coming here Callie" Arizona gently said as she caressed a tanned cheek.

Then she stepped away from the brunette once again. "Come on. Let's go back downstairs." Callie smiled and followed her girlfriend out the room.

* * *

Arizona stood in the workshop and looked out through the window. Callie and her dad were laughing outside. The Robbins patriarch had taken it upon himself to teach his daughter's girlfriend a thing or two about carpentry and had moved a log outside the workshop. So far it didn't go that well.

The blonde smiled as her dad laughed when Callie once again failed to hold the planer correctly. The man threw his arm around the brunette and gave her a sideways hug in comfort before showing her how to do it again.

"Is she really that bad at it or does she suck to amuse him?" Tim asked as he came up and stood next to her.

Arizona chuckled. "She's really that bad at it."

Tim smiled. "Well she's certainly got dad charmed with her lack of carpentry skills."

The blonde woman couldn't help but smile at the truth of that statement. In record time Callie had undoubtedly won her dad over. Arizona knew that their little carpentry-for-dummies had started with a serious talk between the two, but apparently the brunette had said all the right things because next thing she knew Callie was engulfed in a big hug from her dad.

The siblings watched as Callie stepped off to the side and pulled her sweaty top over her head leaving her in a sports bra and jean shorts.

"Fuck" Tim groaned. "How do you keep your hands off her? She's even more stunning in real life!"

Arizona smiled. "I know. And normally I wouldn't be able to, but with everything that's happened…" the blonde woman sighed "I just don't feel like running out there and molesting her like I would have two weeks ago."

Tim turned his attention to his sister. "You're pulling away from her Arizona. You're in the process of setting your relationship back to the beginning. And I know she hurt you and even though I can sympathize with the both of you, I'll always be on your side, because you're my little sister. But if you want to be with her. If you want her to be the one. If you really think that she's your happy ending then you need to stop doing that. Because she can feel it too" the blonde man paused before continuing "I've seen you be in her personal space once since she got here more than two hours ago. I'm not saying that you need to grope her in front of mom and dad, but I think she would really appreciate some sort of signs of support from you. She's meeting her in-laws for the first time and due to the circumstances she's doing it on her own. She's acing it, but she's still doing it on her own."

The blonde woman turned her head and smiled at her brother. "She really is acing it, isn't she?"

Tim smiled back. "She is. I've never seen anyone win dad over that fast. Amanda was here for a week and she grew up in this town as your best friend and he still held back towards her for the entire week. It's taken Callie all of five minutes to break down his wall. And she won mom over before they even came out here in the workshop earlier. She's a keeper, Az!"

"She definitely is" Arizona breathed out. The siblings were interrupted in their talk by loud cheering coming from outside. Callie was standing with her arms held high in victory and her dad was laughing really hard next to her. Arizona turned and walked out the workshop and towards her girlfriend and her dad.

"What's going on out here?" the blonde woman asked as she got closer.

Callie took her arms down and smiled really big at Arizona. "I did it! I planed that piece" she pointed to the grass "off the log!"

Arizona couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. "You've been out here for more than an hour and a half and this is the first time you succeed in getting it right?" the blonde woman asked with a smirk.

"Hey" the brunette pouted "It's hard."

The blonde woman smiled and moved closer to Callie. "I've been doing it since I was six so I don't really remember. But it's the best looking piece of planed wood I've ever seen."

Callie smiled back and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Barbara who popped her head out through the patio door. "Dinner's ready you guys. Go wash up."

Daniel smiled at Callie. "Well it seems your timing was perfect Callie. You can call it a day on a high note" the man said with a wink at the brunette.

"I sure can. Thank you for teaching me Daniel" Arizona and Tim looked at each other as Callie called their dad by his first name "I'm sorry you didn't get anything done yourself" the brunette finished regretfully.

"Don't worry about it. I've got I covered with my kids working the sweatshop and you and me doing all the fun things. And I really had fun. You're quite an extraordinary woman Callie" the eldest Robbins stated with a sincere smile.

Callie opened her mouth to reply, but was once again interrupted. This time by Arizona. "You got that right, dad." With a big smile the blonde woman reached out for the brunette's discarded top with one hand and grabbed a caramel hand with the other, squeezing it slightly.

The smile that appeared on the brunette's face was the biggest Arizona had seen since Callie arrived.

"Come on. Let's go wash up so we can eat while dinner is hot" the blonde softly said to her three companions as she started dragging her girlfriend towards the patio door.

"If it's not cold already. Let's not pretend for a second that mom wasn't standing in the window waiting for the time Callie got it right" Tim said with a chuckle making the brunette blush a little.

"Oh let her be Tim" Daniel said as he tried to suppress the giant smile that threatened to take over his whole face. Because his son was undoubtedly correct. Then he looked at Arizona and Callie. "You guys go ahead and go inside. Tim and I'll tidy up out here real quick before we join you."

Arizona softly caressed the brunette's thumb with her own and smiled gratefully at her dad. Then the duo made their way through the patio door and into the kitchen.

"Hey girls. Are you ready for dinner? Where's your dad and Tim?" Barbara asked with a smile as she gazed down at their joined hands.

Arizona smiled back. "I for one am starving. And they are just moving everything back into the workshop. They'll be here in a second."

Barbara then looked at Callie. "Did you have fun, dear?"

The brunette smiled back. "I really did. Daniel was unbelievably patient with me" Callie said thankfully.

Barbara raised her brows. "Daniel?"

Callie furrowed her brows in confusion at the question. "Yeah. Your husband?" the brunette hesitantly let out.

Then a big and bright smiled took over the older blonde's face. "There are people that have lived in this town for a decade that still don't get to call him that. I hope you know that you're stuck with this family now. Because you don't get a bigger stamp of approval from the man out there" Barbara said as she pointed out through the door at her husband.

The brunette smiled back. "I'd love nothing more than to be stuck with this family. Because I really like all of you" then Callie looked at Arizona "it means a lot I was invited here."

Arizona smiled back and released Callie's hand. "Of course. Let's go wash our hands and face before enjoying this lovely dinner."

The two women made their way to the bathroom side by side. As they stood there washing up Arizona glanced at Callie. "Thank you" the blonde gently said.

The brunette looked at her girlfriend. "For what?"

"For making an effort with my parents. And my mom is right, you know. My dad really likes you. And it's all your own doing. Because I was kind of a bad girlfriend and just left you alone with him for hours" Arizona tenderly let out.

Callie smiled at the blonde. "You don't need to thank me for that Arizona. I really enjoyed myself. It wasn't a hardship for me. And I want to make an effort to get them to like me. Because they are important to you. And I love you. I plan on being with you for as long as you can stand me which means that I will probably have to come back here once in a while and there's a possibility they'll come to LA to visit you. Maybe us eventually. And it'll all be so much more fun if they enjoy being in my company" the brunette finished.

The blonde smiled back. Then she turned off the faucet and dried her hands and face. "Let's get back out there. My mom made the most delicious dinner."

When they made it back to the living room, Tim and Daniel were already seated while Barbara carried things to the table. "Come sit down" the older woman said with a smile.

Callie turned to Arizona. "Where did you put my top? I don't really feel like sitting at the table half naked."

The blonde smiled and went to the kitchen to get her girlfriend's top that she'd thrown on a chair. As she came back she handed it over to the brunette. She couldn't help but trace her hand across a soft stomach in the process. "You've lost weight" Arizona exclaimed.

The brunette chuckled. "Well I've been pole dancing for hours every day for two weeks" Callie stated. Then she locked her eyes on cerulean blue ones. "And I missed my girlfriend like crazy which didn't bode well for my appetite."

"Well then you better sit down and eat, dear" Barbara said with a smile. The brunette returned the smile before putting on her top and moving to sit down across from Tim.

"I think you look great Callie" the man stated.

The brunette smiled. "Thank you Tim."

Arizona sat down next to her girlfriend. "It's not that I don't think you look great. You're always gorgeous. It's just…" the blonde shrugged her shoulders "…I don't know, different I guess."

Callie reached out and caressed an ivory shoulder. "I get it Arizona." Then she withdrew her hand. "This looks delicious Barbara. I'm sure three days here will get me back to my old shape in no time!" the brunette stated with a smile at her girlfriend's mother.

Barbara returned the smile. "Well then dig in" she said as she handed Callie the potatoes.

 **That's it for chapter 26. You'll get one more chapter at the end of the week before I'm travelling to Malaysia. That way the girl's visit with Arizona's parents will be finished before I leave you guys for two weeks and they'll be ready for new adventures once I get back from vacation at the beginning of August.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	27. Chapter 27

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Firstly my thoughts and prayers are with Nice and all those affected by the horrible action. I can't believe somebody can get themselves to do something like that - and then on July 14** **th** **of all days. I'm heartbroken. Again.**

 **Secondly this is the last chapter you're going to get for at least 17 days. Make sure you enjoy it to the fullest! ;)**

 **It's really, really, REALLY long, because I promised you that I would leave you guys with the girls' visit with Arizona's parents being over. And when I checked the chapters yesterday it turned out, that their stay actually span across two more chapters instead of only one. I'd completely forgot about. So I've just pasted those two together into this long ass chapter to make sure I kept my promise.**

 **If you think you might get bored during my absence, and you probably will, seeing as you'll all undoubtedly miss me a lot, right? ;), then I'll highly recommend you go read the lovely palmettocalzona's fic 'Twelve Rounds' if you haven't already. I really love that story and there are already 15+ chapters for you to pass time with! ;) A chapter a day, and then I'll be back before you know it! :D**

 **Thank you for your many kind words for chapter 26! I'm once again overwhelmed with the love you all hold for my story. It totally makes all the hard work worth it. And thank you to all of you who wished me a safe and fun vacation - I'm sure my friend is going to make sure it'll be the trip of a lifetime! :P**

 **To Superchick: Welcome to the HD &HD family. I'm really happy you enjoy it! :D **

**To the guest who wrote that this is her/his favorite story: Aweee thank you! It made my day, when I read your comment :***

 **To LauraLou87: YOU are amazing ;)**

 **To the guest who doesn't want me to go on vacation: No, that is absolutely not wrong – it actually makes me kind of happy, lol :P It seems that a lot of you feel that way :) I still want to go though, sorry ;D  
**

 **To Scampers0213: I LOVE your long reviews. I like how much you think about my characters and my story. By all means keep doing it :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **HAPPY READING!**

CHAPTER 27:

Arizona slowly woke up. She had slept awful yet again. And she didn't get why. Yesterday had been good. After dinner the five of them had sat in the living room talking and watching TV. They had stumbled upon an old episode of 'Heart and Hospital' which had led to Callie telling old tales from the set, much to the amusement of the entire Robbins family.

The two women had started relaxing a little more around each other as the night progressed, but things were still far from normal. And Arizona really hated that. She missed gazing at Callie and just feeling happiness and warmth spread inside her instantly.

The blonde stretched and got out of bed. She put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and left the room. When she walked down the stairs, familiar laughing reached her ears from the kitchen. As she made it there she found her mother and girlfriend in deep conversation. The brunette was laughing at something Barbara had said.

Callie looked to the door and sparkling chocolate brown eyes connected with cerulean blue ones. "Good morning" the brunette said with a smile aimed at her girlfriend.

Arizona smiled back. "Good morning. What are you guys doing?"

Barbara turned towards her daughter. "We're making breakfast. Callie has given me the brush up on what your favorite breakfast foods are these days."

The younger blonde moved further into the kitchen as she looked at the table and stove and found that all the things she loved to eat the most for breakfast were present. "Wow, you guys have been busy. But you should have made Callie's favorites, mom" Arizona said with a smile.

"You don't think that was my plan? I even asked her last night what she would like for breakfast" Barbara stated towards her daughter. "But then this one" she said as she pointed at the brunette "got up and insisted we'd do all of your favorites instead."

Arizona smiled tenderly at Callie. "Thank you. But you didn't have to do that."

The brunette smiled back. "I know I didn't have to. And I know this seems like an insignificant detail, but I know getting a good start to the day is significant to you. And eating food you like is a very important part of that. Even though you get up at 4.30 most days to meet the guys at the gym, you still have your own routine making for a great start of the day. And we both know how it ruins the rest of your day if you're out of your cereal and have to eat mine. I don't need my favorite foods for breakfast, I can eat whatever. But I need you to be happy. Because if you're happy then I'm happy" Callie gently stated as her eyes were trained on blue orbs.

The blonde moved around the breakfast bar and threw her arms around her girlfriend's waist while she buried her face in the crook of a tanned neck. Callie smiled and put her arms around the other woman hugging her tightly as she rested her cheek on the blonde's head.

Callie felt the blonde pull back. Arizona looked intensely at her for a few minutes. "What?" the brunette asked at last when she started squirming under the power of those blue eyes.

Before Callie even registered what happened pink lips had captured her own in a lingering kiss. The brunette sighed at the feeling. The only kiss her and Arizona had shared yesterday had been the one in the blonde's room, and Callie really missed kissing her girlfriend. She was really surprised Arizona did it in front of her mother though. Because the blonde had really held back from touching her in front of her family yesterday, with the exception of the twenty minutes leading up to dinner.

"Well I see somebody are certainly enjoying this fine morning" Tim's teasing voice sounded out causing the blonde woman to pull back from the kiss. Arizona sighed and removed herself from the brunette completely walking back to sit at the breakfast bar.

"How can I not enjoy it? Because our awesome mother and my amazing girlfriend have made all MY favorite foods for breakfast" the blonde said with a smug grin at her brother.

Tim moved his attention to his mother. "Why are you making her favorite foods? Just because she's some big movie star in LA! When do I get all my favorite foods for breakfast?" the man asked with a pout.

"Quit whining, Tim. I would have made Callie's since she's the guest, but she insisted we made Arizona's instead" Barbara answered.

"You are soooo whipped!" Tim exclaimed disbelieving at the brunette.

Callie chuckled at him. "You say that as if it's a bad thing Tim. You should be thankful that I want to make your sister happy and content."

The blonde man smiled at the brunette as he moved to stand next to her at the stove. "I am. Right now I just really hope that her favorite breakfast foods happen to be my favorite breakfast foods as well, though."

The brunette patted Tim's shoulder as she chuckled at his words.

"Don't worry. There are bacon waffles over there" Barbara said as she pointed to a plate that stood of to the side."

The man fist pumped at the discovery. "YES! Thank you mom!" he said as he placed a kiss on a dimpled cheek.

Barbara smiled at her son. "Don't thank me. Again it was all Callie's decision" she stated as she smiled at her daughter's girlfriend.

Tim turned his attention to the brunette. "Well then I guess I owe YOU a kiss" he said as he moved closer to Callie.

"Don't even think about it Timothy Robbins!" Arizona scolded her brother as it was very clear what his intensions were.

"What?" Tim asked as he shrugged his shoulders. "From what I saw a couple of minutes ago, Callie is not a kiss-on-the-cheek-girl!" the man said with a wink aimed at the brunette.

Callie just chuckled in return. "Not that it isn't very tempting, but I think I'll settle for kissing one Robbins at a time" the brunette stated as she smiled at Tim.

The man sighed and moved back. "Fine. Have it your way. You don't know what you're missing out on. Amanda says I'm an awesome kisser" Tim let out with a shrug.

"Well then you should save them all for her" Callie replied with big smile.

Arizona looked at her girlfriend as Tim nudged her shoulder before making his way to the living room. She loved how easily the woman fit in with her family. She'd never brought anyone home that bonded that quickly with her brother. Tim genuinely seemed to like the brunette and Arizona was so thankful for that.

"How did you know?" the blonde asked as she looked at her chuckling girlfriend.

Callie let her gaze fall on Arizona. "Know what?" she asked confused.

"That Tim's favorite breakfast food is bacon waffles?" Arizona questioned with a smile.

"You told me" the brunette stated with a shrug. "On one of the mornings after we first started spending the night together. I wanted to make you your favorite breakfast and you told me you had a lot, but if you had to pick one it was chocolate chip pancakes. And then as I was making those we talked, and you told me that your brother's favorite breakfast food was bacon waffles while you made a gagging sound" Callie smiled at the memory.

"I can't believe you remembered that" Arizona said tenderly.

Callie moved around the breakfast counter to stand in front of her girlfriend. She reached up and caressed an ivory cheek. "Of course I remember. I always remember when you tell me things about your family. Because I know that information will be important someday. And I was already right."

The blonde closed her eyes a second and revelled in her girlfriend's touch. "What else do you remember?" she asked softly.

The brunette smiled. "I remember lots of things. I remember that your mother's favorite flower is the daisy. And had I not been a sad, nervous wreck about seeing you when I got here, I would have remembered to bring her some. But hopefully she'll forgive me for not getting her anything yesterday and let me bring them next time. I remember you told me that your dad and his brother's didn't see their grandparents for years at a time and that broke little Daniel's heart, which meant that he always made an effort to take you to visit your grandparents frequently when you and Tim were kids. And that's the reason I really think we need to prioritize seeing our parents at least every third month one way or another once we have children. I remember you telling me about you and Tim sitting on the bench your dad made for you mother as a wedding present, that I have yet to see by the way, talking about your dreams for the future. And by the look on your face I could tell that you thought that was the most romantic and perfect wedding gift ever, but I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you and get you something else, because I think we all learned yesterday that carpentry is NOT one of my many talents." This made the blonde giggle.

"I remember the things you tell me Arizona. I absorb them like a sponge, because you tell me those things because they're important to you. And that makes them important to me" Callie finished with a loving smile at the blonde.

A single tear made its way down Arizona's cheek. "You've thought about marrying me? I never thought you'd want to get married again?" the blonde softly asked.

Callie reached out and wiped away the tear. "Yeah I've thought about marrying you. If I have it my way you're never getting rid of me again. And I'm more than willing to put a ring on your finger someday in the future to seal the deal properly" the brunette tenderly said before adding as an afterthought "But next time WILL be the last time I'm marrying anyone."

The blonde pulled Callie to her in a tight hug. "When we've eaten breakfast I'm going to show you the bench. And then we'll talk and sort everything out. Because we need to clear the air. You're perfect and I don't ever want to let you go. I just want to be able to enjoy being with you without anything else clouding my experience of your flawlessness" Arizona gently whispered.

The brunette closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of her girlfriend. It never seized to calm her. "I think we've established these past few weeks that I'm nowhere near perfect or flawless. But I think you're right. We should clear the air. Because I'd really like to just be able to enjoy being with you as well" Callie softly replied.

Arizona pulled back and rested her forehead against her girlfriend's. "Thank you for coming here. And thank you for agreeing to stay even though I'd told you to leave."

Callie smiled and pulled back. "Thank you for changing your mind." The brunette looked at Barbara who had a sheen of tears in her eyes as she smiled at the brunette. "I think we should eat breakfast while it's hot. I'm going to go get Daniel from the yard" Callie said before making her way out through the patio door.

Barbara looked at her daughter who followed her retreating girlfriend with her eyes. "Arizona. She's…"

"Unreal" the younger blonde interrupted and turned to look at her mother. "And she's MINE mom! I know she hurt me and pissed me off, but she's just…" Arizona sighed. She didn't know how to express her feelings properly.

Barbara smiled at her daughter. "She's just really good at loving you, honey. I don't remember ever seeing anyone being this attentive to you and the details that make up your wonderful personality. There's no doubt in my mind that this woman loves you with her entire being. And she's allowed to screw up once in a while. You both are. And you need to remember that. Because you will slip up. More than once" the older Robbins said seriously. Then her smile reappeared. "But it makes me so happy to see the two of you are slowly moving past this hurdle. It was no doubt a big one. And it's those that we learn from. Your relationship will get stronger from this. And I for one can't wait to witness you guys relax completely around each other."

Barbara moved towards Arizona and put a hand on her cheek. "I know that you're probably still a little hurt by her actions and that's the reason you're acting the way you are towards her, all hot and cold, but I just want you to know that you never have to refrain from touching her or kissing her in front of us, Arizona. She's your girlfriend. And I promise you that both your dad and I are as okay with her being your girlfriend as we are with Amanda being Tim's. She makes you happy. And you can show her and us that when she's here with you."

The younger blonde smiled at her mother. "Thank you mom. I've never doubted that but it means a lot you're saying it." Then Arizona engulfed her mother in a hug. As she pulled back she gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. "Let's get this delicious breakfast on the table. I really need to get my hands on these goodies soon" the blonde deadpanned making her mother laugh in return.

* * *

Callie slowly traced her fingers across the words chiseled into the wood. 'I look at you and see the rest of my life in front of my eyes'. It was obvious that the bench wasn't new, but it had so much soul and it was absolutely beautiful. The brunette had never seen a piece of furniture convey so much love as this one did.

And the setting did nothing but highlight the beauty of the bench. It was situated at a corner of the backyard and overlooked a small creek. Callie assumed that was the stream Little Creek was named after.

Arizona had been standing off to the side and let the brunette get a real look at the bench by herself. Then she stepped up next to her girlfriend and gestured for the other woman to sit down.

The brunette did as Arizona asked and the blonde sat down next to her. They sat there in silence for a minute just enjoying the view.

"I'm sorry it seems I took it all out on you Arizona. I'm mad and disappointed at Mark too and he'll get to feel the fiery Latina temper as well, believe me" the brunette started as she turned her head to look at her girlfriend. "And I know that this will sound ridiculous and as the world's worst excuse, but the reason I took you keeping it at secret the hardest wasn't because my anger with you were greater than my anger with Mark, but because my love for you is greater than my love for Mark ever was" Callie tenderly stated.

At those words Arizona turned her head and locked her gaze with the brunette's. Nothing but love and devotion were present in them, and the blonde had to divert her gaze because of the intensity of those feelings in the mesmerizing chocolate brown eyes. She reached over, grabbed a caramel hand and intertwined her fingers with Callie's spurring the brunette to go on.

"It's only been a little more than six months since I kissed you for the very first time. And the idea of you maybe waking up one day and realizing that you can live without me, that I'm really not that important to you, breaks my heart more than Mark asking for a divorce after a decade together ever did. I'm so in love with you Arizona. I'll never be able to explain the feelings you induce in me" the brunette softly said while she looked at the blonde who had her eyes glued to their joined hands.

Callie then leaned over and rested her forehead against the side of her girlfriend's head. "And for a second I was afraid that you not telling me about Mark and Andrew were a sign that you were getting sick of me already. Or that I'd delved head first into this too fast and just assumed we were on the same page when in fact I was chapters ahead of you. And both scenarios were just so hard for me to cope with. Because I really need you to not get sick of me. And I really want us to be on the same page" Callie gently whispered.

Arizona closed her eyes when she felt tears gather in them. "He's my friend. And he asked me for a favor. You should have seen him Callie. He looked so broken. I couldn't go against his wish even if my first instinct was to run and tell you. And HE should be the one to tell you Callie. I didn't want to get caught in the middle of your pending divorce" the blonde chuckled as she'd said that. "That really backfired though."

Then the blonde turned her head so her forehead rested against Callie's and her nose brushed her girlfriend's. "And you don't need to be afraid that I'll get sick of you or that I'm not on the same page. I'm right here next to you. Always. Every day when I wake up, without exceptions, I reach for you next to me in bed. And every day that you're not there I just know that this day will be a little worse than the days when you are there. You're all I think about. I think about you when I go grocery shopping and I subconsciously put all of your favorite things in the shopping cart and forget the groceries that were actually on my list. I think about you whenever I see anyone with brown hair, because their shade of brown is just never as perfect or beautiful as yours. I think of you when the radio plays a song by Coldplay because I know you love everything they've ever made. And I think of you when the radio plays a song by Britney Spears because I know you hate everything that she's ever made" Arizona softly stated making the brunette chuckle slightly.

Then she moved back a little and looked straight into brown orbs. "Don't ever be afraid that I don't love you as much as you love me. Because I do. For the first time ever I feel like my heart and body isn't big enough to hold all the love I feel. And that scares me. Because what if you get sick of me. There are no guarantees in this Callie. But I promise you, that I'm as far from being sick of you as I can get."

Callie smiled at her girlfriend with tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy you feel that way. And I'm really, really sorry I withdrew myself from you these past two weeks. You didn't deserve that. I don't think I was wrong to be hurt and mad at you, but I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. And I get that Mark is your friend and very close colleague and that you could sympathize with him."

The brunette sighed a little "but it really took me by surprise that you'd known for that long. So many significant things had happened in our relationship during that period, Arizona. You'd told Teddy and Addison about us. We'd had sex. We'd shared our first 'I love yous'. Those were so important events to me. And every time I shared a little more of myself with you I fell a little more in love. And learning that you'd kept a secret like that from me, without a problem, during those events just threw me off. Because I would never have been able to do that. You'd known instantly that something was wrong. I can't both give myself to you and hold something like that back. Something would have had to give. And since you kept the secret, I just figured that you hadn't given yourself to me completely. And that broke my heart."

Arizona smiled and reached out to wipe away the tears that were trickling down her girlfriend's cheeks. Then she let her hands rest against the soft skin on her girlfriends face. "First and most importantly; those were also VERY important events to me, Callie. I didn't keep Mark's secret 'without a problem'. I had a hard time doing it. And it didn't mean that I wasn't giving myself to you completely. Because I assure you I did. Whenever I was, well am, with you I forget everything else. Nothing matters to me except you in those moments" the blonde tenderly said.

Then Arizona shifted and moved to straddle the brunette on the bench. She rested her forehead against her girlfriend's. "I LOVE you, Calliope Torres. And I can't imagine I'll ever stop."

Callie looked into cerulean blue eyes. "I love you too. God Arizona, so much!" Then she ever so softly connected her lips with the blonde's.

Arizona quickly responded to the kiss and soon it turned more passionate. Callie groaned as a moan left her girlfriend's mouth and she drove her tongue to meet the blonde's. She'd missed kissing Arizona like this and she never wanted to stop. Not until the brunette felt her lungs burn from lack of oxygen did she pull back panting. The blonde was clearly out of breath as well but nevertheless she leaned in and kissed Callie again. The brunette felt soft hands make their way under her shirt and gently caress her lower back.

"You're going to need to stop that" Callie murmured against pink lips.

"Why?" Arizona murmured back as she smiled a little into the kiss.

The brunette pulled back and looked at darkened blue eyes. "You know why." Then she reached up and traced an ivory jaw line. "I miss you like crazy, but this is not the place to do all sorts of dirty things to you" Callie stated sultry.

Arizona looked lovingly at her girlfriend. "I know." Then she demounted the other woman and held out her hand for the brunette to take. "Come on. Let's go back to the house. We can go visit my mom at the diner for lunch."

Callie smiled and took the proffered hand. "Lead the way."

The two women made their way back to the house hand in hand. When they reached the back porch, Arizona let go of Callie's hand and opened the patio door for the brunette to enter. Callie smiled gratefully at the blonde as she made her way through.

"HOLY CRAP!" The foreign voice made Callie turn her gaze to the kitchen table instantly. Sitting there was a very beautiful red haired woman who stared back at the brunette with wide green eyes.

Arizona steeped up behind Callie and smiled at the shocked woman. "Amanda, hey!" the blonde said as she moved towards the table. "What are you doing here?"

The red head looked at the blonde for a second as the woman hugged her briefly before moving her gaze back to Callie. "I got a few days off unexpectedly, so I thought I'd come here and see Tim" Amanda shook her head a little "I'm sorry, are you really…?" the red head trailed off in question.

The brunette smiled and stepped forward. "I'm Callie. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from both Arizona and Tim" Callie said as she held out her hand towards the red head.

"It's nice to meet you too" Amanda nodded her head as she shook a tanned hand. She looked at Arizona "why is she here?" and then she looked back at Callie "why are you here?"

Arizona laughed hard at the disbelieving look at the other woman's face and looked at her smiling girlfriend. "Callie, this is Amanda, Tim's girlfriend" Then blue eyes found shocked green ones. "Amanda, this is Callie" she paused for a second before adding "my girlfriend."

Green eyes widened even more. "Shut up Arizona!" Amanda gasped. "Are you serious?"

The blonde laughed again and stepped over next to Callie grabbing her hand. "Very serious" she said as she looked devotedly at the brunette. Then she looked back at the red head. "But we'd really appreciate it if you'd keep it to yourself for a little while. Callie still needs to tell her family and then we'll need to tell our colleagues before it gets publicly known."

Amanda smiled with still very wide eyes. "Of course." Then she shook her head. "This is a little weird for me. I mean; you're Callie Torres. A-list movie star" the red head said as she looked at Callie. Then she looked at Arizona. "And you're my former childhood friend, turned sister-in-law and recently yet again friend. And I know you're turning into quite the star yourself, and you work with Callie, but I was so not prepared for her being here" Amanda said as she chuckled a little. "I'm sorry for reacting like that" the woman apologized to the brunette with a small blush.

"No need to be sorry" Callie answered honestly. "Besides Tim reacted like that too. It seems you're a perfect match" the brunette chuckled.

"Speaking of which; where is he?" Arizona asked.

"He's just out in the workshop with your dad. I surprised him with my visit and he and Mr. Robbins were working on something in the workshop. He wanted to just stop everything he was doing and be with me, but I insisted he finished it before he and I hung out. So I'm just waiting for him here" Amanda said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

Arizona and Callie both smiled back. "We were actually just talking about going to my mom's diner for lunch. Maybe you and Tim would like to come?" the blonde asked.

The red head smiled at her boyfriend's sister. "We don't want to intrude. You guys can go by yourselves if you'd like to enjoy some time just the two of you. It must be overwhelming for you Callie, meeting the Robbins clan for the first time. I've visited this house my entire childhood, but it was still really different for me to come here as Tim's girlfriend for the first time" Amanda said as she turned her attention to the brunette.

The brunette smiled at the red head. "Don't worry about it. We'd love for you guys to join us. I want to get to know you too. You're a part of this family as much as I am. We're going to need each other to lean on if we're both going to survive being with the Robbins siblings" Callie finished with a wink before letting out a squeal as Arizona pinched her side.

"Behave! I'm awesome to be with. And you're lucky I've chosen you" the blonde said with mock offence.

The brunette chuckled at the look on her girlfriend's face before leaning over slightly "I definitely am" Callie softly said and then captured pink lips in a lingering kiss.

"That's the second time in not even four hours I walk into a room to the two of you sucking face" Tim exclaimed as he came in through the patio door.

Arizona groaned in annoyance as the brunette pulled back while Amanda and eventually Callie chuckled. "Leave them alone Tim" Amanda said to her boyfriend as he came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"But it's fun" the man stated with a small pout.

The red head chuckled and reached up to grab the hand that lay on her shoulder. "Callie and Arizona very kindly asked us if we want to join them for lunch at your mom's. What do you think?"

Tim looked at his sister and her girlfriend. "I think I'd really like that. Let me go wash up real quick" he said and leaned down to give Amanda a kiss before walking out of the kitchen towards the bathroom.

Callie turned to Arizona. "I'm going to go make myself presentable to the public. I won't be long" the brunette said as she made her way towards the stairs.

"Hey!" the blonde called out making her girlfriend turn around. "You're always, ALWAYS gorgeous. But for the record; this Callie" Arizona said as she gestured towards the brunette "is my favorite Callie. Well not FAVORITE, because there's one that beats her, but she's definitely for my eyes only and I'm not going to mention her here" the blonde said with a wink at a slightly blushing brunette. "But I like this one, because she's not accessible to the public. This is the private Callie. You are really beautiful. Stunning actually. From the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed. I just want you to know that."

The brunette smiled lovingly at her girlfriend. "Thank you. You're a real sweetheart. I'll be back down in ten minutes." With that Callie made her way up the stairs.

* * *

As the Robbins foursome made their way into the diner, the room went deadly silent and all eyes tuned in on the brunette, much like at every other place in town they'd stopped by.

But then Barbara Robbins appeared from the kitchen and her loud squeal prompted the people in the room to start talking a little again. Though most were whispering and pointing at the brunette.

The elder Robbins woman made her way around the counter to greet her guests. She hugged Amanda tightly first. "Sweetie, when did you get here?" Barbara asked her son's girlfriend.

The red head smiled back "An hour or so ago. And then Callie and Arizona very kindly invited us to have lunch with them."

Barbara smiled at the remaining three and moved towards Callie who stepped back. The Robbins matriarch was very clearly hurt by that action. "I'm sorry Barbara, but all eyes are on me, and I owe it to my family to keep some distant and appearance of friendship with Arizona while in the public eye until I have the chance to tell them about her and me. It's not you" the brunette softly explained.

"It's okay. I get it. Order whatever you guys want. It's on the house" Barbara said hugging each of her children briefly and moving back to the kitchen. The brunette could tell that her explanation hadn't really made a difference.

Callie closed her eyes for a second and sighed. "Don't worry about it. She'll get over it in no time" Tim said as he pulled the brunette towards a table by her arm. He pulled out a chair for Callie and sat down next to her. Amanda sat down across from Tim and Arizona sat down across from the brunette.

"So" Callie said as she opened the menu "what should I get?"

"The Little Creek burger" was said in unison by her three lunch companions.

The brunette hesitated and looked at the other dishes. "Please don't do that" Arizona's soft voice made her look up from the card.

"Do what?" Callie asked with a small smile.

Arizona put down her own menu. She had to restrain herself from reaching over and grab the other woman's hand. "I know you're taking into consideration the amount of fried chicken you ate last night. And its making you want to choose the salad. But you shouldn't think about that. Mostly because you are one of the hottest women in the world and one burger won't change that. But also because you shouldn't miss out on my mom's famous Little Creek burger. It's amazing. I'll have her make salad for dinner if you want to, just…choose the burger Callie" the blonde gently stated.

The brunette smiled lovingly back and put her own menu down. "Little Creek burger it is."

"Perfect" the blonde stated. "I'll go order for us. Diet coke?"

"Yes please. Thank you" Callie sincerely said.

Tim rose from the table along with his sister. "I'll go order for us too. Burger and a Fanta?" he asked his girlfriend who nodded her head as she smiled.

Then the Robbins siblings left and went to the counter. Amanda turned her attention to Callie. "So Tim gave me the brush up on your new movie; a stripper in Vegas, huh?" the red head questioned with a smile.

Callie chuckled. "Yeah. So far it's great, but I'm sure I'm going to get sick of twirling myself around a pole to the beat of the music by the end of the summer" the brunette deadpanned.

Amanda chuckled. "I can imagine." Then she looked thoughtful for a second. "How does Arizona feel about that? You being half naked for the world to see."

"She's cool with it. At least that what she's said. It's my job. And I'm not really a fan of body doubles. I don't want to replace myself with someone else. To me that's like saying I'm not proud of the way I look. Or that I'm not good enough as I am. That I can't pull it off. And I know I can. Even though I hesitated about the burger for a second. But that's mostly for health reasons. I know there will undoubtedly be people who'll make comments about me and my weight once the movie hit theaters" Callie said as she shrugged her shoulders. "But they can say whatever they want. To me the only opinion that matters is Arizona's. As long as I'm happy and healthy and she likes what she sees, I don't really give a shit what the critics say about me. Besides I think that beauty comes in lots of shapes and sizes."

"That's really honorable Callie. And I for one think that you are really beautiful. And everyone who thinks you're overweight is an idiot. You are going to rock people's worlds with your moves when that movie premieres" the red head let out.

"Thank you Amanda!" the brunette replied.

The two women watched as Tim gathered three drinks from the counter and Arizona stood talking to a guy with her own soft drink in hand.

"Who's that with Arizona?" the brunette questioned as Tim came back to the table with drinks for Amanda, Callie and himself.

"Oh, that's Ben. He and Arizona used to date" Tim answered nonchalantly which earned him a pointed glare from his girlfriend.

"Yeah. When?" Callie asked while taking a sip of her drink as she looked at her girlfriend laughing with what was apparently her former boyfriend.

Tim shrugged his shoulders. "Back in high school. I guess she was around 15 at the time. He was the first guy she slep…OWWW, what the hell?" the man exclaimed as he looked at his red headed girlfriend who'd just kicked his shin really hard under the table to get him to stop talking.

But it was too late and Callie had sprayed the table in diet coke as Tim had said those words. The brunette once again looked at the duo by the counter while she coughed. Arizona caught her gaze for a second and furrowed her brows in confusion at the look on her girlfriend's face.

Without a second thought Callie rose from the table as she stopped coughing and casually made her way to Arizona and Ben. "Hi guys" she said as she reached them.

"Oh hi! Ben, meet Callie Torres. Callie, this is Ben Simmons" the blonde said with a smile.

Ben reached his hand out towards the brunette. Callie took it and shook it firmly. "She doesn't really need an introduction, Arizona" Ben said with a wink. "It's so nice to finally meet you Callie. It was quite the show you'd put together for us on New Year's. Thank you for that. Little Creek has never seen anything like it" the man smiled at the brunette.

Callie smiled back. Ben seemed nice. "You're welcome. And I'm glad you all enjoyed it."

"I swear I read somewhere that you would be filming in Las Vegas this summer" Ben said as his eyes showed some confusion.

The brunette chuckled a little. "I am. I just have a few days off. I needed to unwind from Sin City so I decided to come here to Little Creek to see what all the fuss was about. And I have to say I really love it here" Callie honestly said as she bumped her shoulder with Arizona's.

Ben smiled at her. "I'm happy to hear that." Then he turned his attention to Arizona. "I've got to go. But I'd really like it if you'd call me, Z. I've missed having you around here."

The blonde smiled at Ben. "I've missed being here. And I will definitely call you. Because we should do lunch sometime next week to catch up properly before I head back to LA."

"That sounds really good" Ben smiled and put his hand on Arizona's shoulder squeezing it lightly. Then he pulled it back and looked at Callie with a smile. "It was nice meeting you Callie. Enjoy the rest of your time here."

With that the man left the two women alone. Callie stared at the blonde who watched Ben walk out of the diner. Then blue eyes locked on brown. "What?" Arizona asked her girlfriend.

"Nothing" the brunette said and turned her attention to Tim and Amanda who'd been watching the interaction intensely. "We should go back to the table. Our food will probably be served soon."

Callie walked back to her seat with a slightly confused Arizona trailing behind her.

* * *

When the day came to an end and Tim and Amanda had gone back to Tim's place, Arizona and Callie sat in the living room with the blonde's parents. The two of them were on one of the couches and the blonde had her head in the brunette's lap as Callie scratched soft patterns on Arizona's scalp.

"You've really won Little Creek over, Callie" Barbara softly said. "First with the fireworks and today with all the autographs and pictures. They are all going to be ecstatic once they find out that you and Arizona are a couple."

After lunch and another trip of looking at significant places in Little Creek, Callie had decided to situate herself outside the local grocery store and sign autographs and take pictures with the people stopping by. It had been a huge success and Arizona was positive that every inhabitant of the small town had stopped by as it had rumored that the world famous movie star was in town.

The brunette smiled down at her girlfriend as she sighed in content at the attention Callie paid to her scalp. "I didn't do it to win anyone over. Both actions have been done with very selfish ulterior motives. The more they talk to me and the fact that they all have my autograph already maybe make them stare a little less next time I'm here. Arizona grew up here and no matter how big a star she's going to become, she'll always be closer to a normal person than a star to the people living here. And I'd like to get there as well because I plan on visiting Little Creek a lot in the future" Callie gently said as she looked at the older blonde woman.

Barbara smiled and patted Daniel's leg. "Well, we better get to bed now." With that the couple rose from their seat. "I hope you've enjoyed your day here, Callie" the blonde woman said as the pair moved past the two women on the couch.

Callie reached out and grabbed Barbara's wrist. She stopped her actions on her girlfriend's head which earned her a dissatisfied groan from the other woman. The brunette looked at her girlfriend's mother before pulling her down for a hug. "Thank you for understanding today at the diner Barbara. I can't wait for the day when I can walk in to that place and be greeted by you like Amanda was. Because I'm really happy and proud to be a part of this family. And I'm really happy that you would want to greet me like that. Thank you."

Barbara smiled at the other woman's words and eased out of the hug. "And I am, well we are" she said as she gestured to Daniel "really happy to welcome you into this family. You're such a wonderful and caring woman and I'm honored I get the privilege of getting to know you."

Then the older blonde bent down and kissed first her daughter's forehead and then the top of Callie's head. "Goodnight girls. Don't let the bedbugs bite" Barbara teased.

Both women chuckled before replying with a 'goodnight'. When they heard the bedroom door close upstairs Callie looked down at her girlfriend. "We should go to bed too. You're tired" the brunette softly stated.

Arizona stared back at her. "Yeah I am. I've really enjoyed today Callie. And my mom is right; Little Creek loves you."

Callie opened her mouth to say something. She wanted to ask Arizona about her relationship with Ben, but she didn't know if she could. "Ben seems nice." The brunette felt like face palming herself as the words left her mouth. Because the random comment made it very clear that she was fishing for something.

The blonde couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend. Callie's face sported the same expression as it did when she'd scolded Mark for looking at Arizona's ass. The blonde reached up and traced her finger along Callie's chin. "There's no need to be jealous of him."

The brunette looked at the blonde with a funny look. "Really? I shouldn't be a little jealous when the first person you ever slept with is right there in front of me?"

Arizona's eyes widened. "How did you know?" Then she closed her eyes for a second as realization dawned on her. "Tim! I'm going to…" she stopped talking as she opened her eyes again and they connected with chocolate brown ones. Because the eyes in front of her seemed almost sad.

"Ben might be the first person I slept with, but you were the first person I made love to Calliope. I know you probably wanted to kill him, because I feel like that a little every time I look at Mark. But then I remember you're with me now. And it doesn't matter if he used to sleep with you. Because I'm the one that gets to do it now" the blonde finished with a little wiggle of her eyebrows.

The brunette chuckled and smiled at the other woman. "I love you. You're such a perfect fit to me and my craziness, and I'm really thankful that I met you. Of course I wish that I'd met you ten years ago, but I'm so happy to have you in my life now. I've never felt as whole and as complete as I do when I'm with you" Callie tenderly said.

Arizona moved her hand to the brunette's neck and pulled her down for a soft and slow kiss filled with love. As they parted Callie stole one more kiss from pink lips before she rubbed her nose against Arizona's. "Let's go to bed, hot stuff."

The blonde smiled and moved her head from Callie's lap before getting off the couch giving the brunette a chance to stand up as well. Arizona laced her fingers with her girlfriend's and they made their way up the stairs silently, turning of the light as they went.

When they reached the landing they stopped and Callie looked at her girlfriend. She reached up with her free hand and put a lock of blonde hair behind her girlfriend's ear. "Sweet dreams Arizona." Then she leaned in and pecked pink lips. She let the kiss linger for a little bit, enjoying the feeling of those perfect lips against her own. When she pulled back she moved to go to Tim's old room, but Arizona kept a tight hold of her hand forcing her to stop.

Arizona pulled Callie to her so their faces were only inches apart. "Please stay with me tonight. You heard my mother; there might be bedbugs. And I think we have a better chance at fighting them off if we're together" the blonde softly said with a small smile as she locked her gaze on brown orbs.

Callie smiled back. "Okay" she breathed out. "But there will be no funny business when your parents are sleeping two rooms away" the brunette whispered.

The blonde pouted a little for a second. "Fine. But then you have to be the big spoon and hold me for the entire night" Arizona let out in compromise.

"I can definitely do that" the brunette said as Arizona dragged her towards the blonde's bedroom.

* * *

"Tim put me down!" Arizona shrieked as her big brother picked her up and carried her towards the pool. The four young people had decided to spend Monday at the house. Barbara had to be at the diner all day and Daniel was helping a neighbor build a new barn leaving the Robbins siblings and their significant others home alone.

The blonde had slept like a baby last night and had woken up in Callie's arms exactly as she fell asleep and exactly as the brunette had promised. Arizona had tried to lure the brunette into spending a little longer in bed that morning and really enjoy each other's company, but Callie had denied her that and left the bed before Arizona had the chance to really get her hands on her girlfriend's glorious body.

To make matters worse Tim and Amanda had showed up after breakfast looking like they definitely did enjoy some extra time in bed that morning and then proceeded to suggest that the four of them spent the day lounging at the pool.

Arizona had only spent half an hour ogling her girlfriend in her turquoise bikini, and the blonde was already losing her mind from not being able to just strip her girlfriend of that lovely two-piece and fuck her like she wanted to. Right now though she had other concerns. Because her brother was currently carrying her towards the pool. As they reached the edge she tightened her hold on his neck.

"Arizona, you're choking me" Tim rasped out as he tried to get his sister to let go. He'd forgotten how strong she was, and he discovered his error in this too late as he realized that working out with a bunch of buff actors for the past nine months had made her even stronger.

Amanda and Callie were laughing as they witnessed Tim fight to get his shrieking sister to let go of him so he could drop her in the pool. The two women sitting on a couple of lounge chairs watched as the inevitable happened and Tim lost his balance on the edge of the pool. It seemed it all happened in slow motion as their two blondes disappeared from the edge and both fell into the water with a loud splash.

A couple of seconds later a coughing Tim broke the surface of the water and came back up. An then Arizona gracefully appeared next to him. She patted her coughing brother on the back. "That really backfired, huh Timothy?" she asked smugly.

Tim stepped away from her pouting and made his way to the ladder while Arizona was swimming around in the pool laughing.

Amanda rose from the lounge chair and went to check on her boyfriend as he got out of the water. "Are you okay?" she asked but she couldn't contain her laughter.

"I hate you!" Tim said as he pouted.

The red head chuckled and kissed her boyfriend briefly. "No you don't. I'm going to go join Arizona in the pool for a little bit."

As Amanda made her way into the pool chuckling, Tim walked over and sat down on the lounge chair next to Callie. The brunette wordlessly handed him a bottle of water and the man took a big gulp.

"You're by far my favorite one right now" Tim said and smiled at Callie.

The brunette chuckled in return. "I'm not going to lie to you Tim; that was both epic and so well-deserved."

The man pouted "It's not fair that she's that strong. I used to be able to do that without problems."

"She is freakishly strong. But from what I've heard she also works very hard at the gym" Callie stated as she looked at Arizona who splashed around in the water laughing with the red head. "They seem to get along really well" the brunette said and smiled at her blonde girlfriend who made eye contact with her briefly.

"Yeah" Tim said with a smile. "When Amanda visited last week the first day or so was a little awkward. I don't think either of them really knew how to act around each other. Not that their friendship ended in a bad way or anything, they just kind of outgrew each other." The man shrugged his shoulders. "I think they might both have been a little afraid that once they started talking they'd realize that things hadn't changed. That they'd still grown apart. And that would be a sad revelation now that they're kind of stuck with each other."

"Are you going to move to Atlanta eventually to shack up with her?" Callie asked and looked at her girlfriend's brother.

Tim sighed. "I don't really know Callie. I don't know what I would do in Atlanta. My home has always been here" the man softly said.

"Why didn't you ever move away from Little Creek" the brunette hesitantly asked. She and Arizona had talked about Tim numerous times and Callie had already heard the blonde's version of that.

Tim turned his attention to Callie. "I always dreamed of studying Biomedical Engineering and then eventually getting a master's degree in Biomedical Innovation and Development from Georgia Tech. But as Arizona and I got older we realized that there was no way I could do that and she could study drama as well. And I liked carpentry a lot too." The man looked at his sister in the pool. "So I withdrew myself from the equation. Because from the way her eyes lit up every time she talked about acting I just knew that she was destined to do that. She could never be happy staying here Callie. And the second she got the acceptance letter to University of Minnesota I knew it was the right decision. I've never seen her that happy or that excited. And whenever I'm feeling like I was supposed to be somewhere else than here, working at my dad's carpentry business, I just call her and have her tell me about her day. Because her happiness about what she does reaches all the way through the phone. And that makes it all worth it" the man finished and looked at the brunette again.

Callie smiled at the blonde man. "That's a big sacrifice Tim."

Tim shrugged his shoulders. "One of us had to do it. None of us had any possibility of getting a scholarship, so it was either her or me. My parents are still paying off on her college financing. And I'm happy here for the most part. I'll see what the future brings, but if I'm going to live here for the rest of my life that won't be the worst thing that could happen" the man stated as he gestured around them with his arms.

Then he once again looked at his sister and girlfriend chatting in the pool. The two women were resting on some floaters. "Promise me you'll take good care of her Callie. She really loves you. I've never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you. I don't think she even realizes, but she smiles every time she sees you. Even the day you first came here and she was mad at you, she still smiled a little. It's like her body just reacts positive towards you whenever you are around."

"I promise to do my very best. Because I really love her too" the brunette said as she smiled sincerely at her girlfriend's brother.

"Great" Tim said as he stood from the lounger. "Let's go join them" he stated as he held his hand out for Callie to help her up from her seat.

* * *

Arizona sat at the breakfast bar admiring her girlfriend's spectacular body as she did the dishes with Amanda. It was early in the evening and after spending the entire day by the pool, the four of them had decided to get dressed, make dinner and then enjoy a movie before calling it a day.

Callie had to leave tomorrow morning and the blonde really hated that. And as she sat there admiring the gorgeous woman that she got to call hers, Arizona hated it even more. She'd had virtually no time alone with her girlfriend the past two days and she really didn't want to part with Callie for an unknown amount of time without getting to touch her just a little bit.

Arizona caught her brother's eye and he just smiled suggestively at her. The blonde woman knew she'd been busted. She pouted a little at her brother and his smile changed to one of understanding. 'Go' he mouthed to her as he nodded his head towards the stairs. Arizona just shook her head. Callie would never agree to that with Tim and Amanda there. Then he made a nod with his head towards the patio door and Arizona looked out into the yard and her gaze fell upon the workshop.

Tim got out of his seat and stepped up next to Callie "why don't you and Arizona spend some time together before the movie. Amanda and I will finish this and we'll see you in the den" the man said as he pried the dish brush from caramel hands.

Callie was about to object but before she got to say anything Arizona came over and stopped in front of her. "Come on gorgeous. I'll show you some of the things I've been working on with my dad while I've been here" Arizona said as she took a tanned hand and started dragging her girlfriend out the patio door towards the workshop.

When they entered the workshop, Arizona closed the door behind them and watched as the brunette started slowly making her way around the room looking at the different things that were in the process of being created in there.

Callie stood at one of the work tables admiring a set of dining chairs, when two arms wrapped around her midsection and a kiss was placed against the base of her neck. "I've been dying to be alone with you all day" Arizona softly whispered into her girlfriend's ear.

The brunette smiled and leaned back a little against her girlfriend. "Well I'm never opposed to some time alone with you" Callie answered.

The blonde moved one of her hands wander under Callie's shirt and let it slide up her stomach, caressing the soft skin on its way. "It's been really nice having you here. Thank you for coming to see me" Arizona said.

"I would go anywhere to see you, Arizona. And I'm glad you wanted me to staaaaaay, mmm" Callie whimpered out as one of her girlfriend's hands made contact with her breast.

Arizona once again kissed the brunette's neck. "You are so fucking hot, and it's been killing me all day that I couldn't just rip your bikini off and have my way with you" she whispered seductively in her girlfriend's ear before biting softly on her earlobe.

Callie had to lean forward a little bit to steady herself against the work table. She got incredibly turned on incredibly fast. As she rested her hands against the wooden table she felt her girlfriend's other hand make its way to her shorts. The button was snapped open and the zipper was pulled down as the blonde was peppering the brunette's neck with kisses and her other hand was caressing a breast softly.

"Fuck Arizona" Callie breathed out as ivory fingers made their way into her soaking wet panties. "We shouldn't do this here."

The blonde smiled against her girlfriend's neck. "Don't worry about it. My mom and dad are still out and Tim and Amanda are not going to come in here. I promise. Just relax" Arizona whispered before biting down on a caramel shoulder eliciting a groan of something between pleasure and pain from her girlfriend.

"Shit" the brunette moaned out as Arizona slowly started tracing a finger around her erect clit.

"We haven't had sex for more than two weeks, and if I have to say goodbye to you tomorrow without having seen you come undone, I'm 100% positive that I'll combust with want before I see you again" the blonde growled. Then she added with a much softer and tender voice "I love you Calliope. And you've been so amazing with everything while you've been here. Let me show you how much I appreciate that."

The brunette threw her head back in pleasure as the blonde's finger finally made contact with her bundle of nerves. She blindly turned her head to connect her own lips with those of her girlfriend.

Arizona took that as a permission to continue and she withdrew her hand from the other woman's shorts and turned the brunette around to face her while she frantically kissed Callie. In one swift motion she pulled down the brunette's shorts and panties leaving her center completely naked.

The blonde pulled back ad reached up to caress a tanned cheek. "I'm just going to grab a blanket real quick" she said as she moved away from Callie and to the other side of the room.

"You couldn't have gotten that before getting me naked from the waist down" the brunette deadpanned.

Arizona chuckled as she found the blanket in a cabinet. Then she turned around and looked adoringly at her girlfriend. "But you're so beautiful like that" she breathed out before quickly making her way back to Callie.

She spread the blanket out on top of the work table and moved in to place a kiss on plump lips. "Get up" she whispered.

Callie did as she was told. As she lay down on the table with her legs hanging over the edge, Arizona leaned down and looked at her with more love and lust that the brunette had ever seen before. "I'm going to fuck you senseless on this table. I've waited forever to taste you, and I really don't want to wait a second longer" the blonde breathed out. Arizona watched as a small smile graced Callie's lips at the familiarity of those words while chocolate browns eyes darkened like never before. "I love you so incredibly much. And I really hope I don't suck at this" the blonde softly finished.

"You won't" the brunette choked out as she shook her head.

Arizona smiled and kissed her girlfriend passionately. She moaned and felt wetness pool in her underwear as Callie's tongue wrapped around her own and her hand found its way to one of the brunette's breasts. When she'd caressed it for a while she reached down and lifted the other woman's shirt up to reveal two caramel mounds. She aggressively pulled the bra down and sighed in content as her hand made direct contact with a rigid nipple.

The brunette groaned and tore her lips from her girlfriend's pink ones. "Oh my God, Arizona. I've really missed this" Callie whimpered out. "You turn me on so much."

The blonde smiled and kissed a tanned neck once before moving down the brunette's body. She kissed the apex of her girlfriend's center and hooked her free arm around one of her girlfriend's thighs. "I love you" she said before she leaned in and gently kissed Callie's clitoris.

Callie moaned at the action but the moan turned into a cry of pleasure as the blonde started sucking softly on the hard clit.

Arizona didn't realize how much she'd really missed making the brunette feel that good until this very moment. Her own center was throbbing as a reaction to the sounds that left her girlfriend's mouth.

She pulled her hand away from Callie's breast and moved it to the brunette's core. She let her hand take over where her mouth left off and moved her tongue to trace up the brunette's slit. Callie was already soaking wet and the blonde growled at the taste. The taste of the brunette was somehow exactly as Arizona had pictured it to be but still diferent and it was intoxicating.

"Please Arizona" the brunette cried out making Arizona's focus turn back to the task at hand. She started rubbing her girlfriend's clit between her thumb and forefinger as she thrusted her tongue into Callie's waiting center.

"Fuuuuuck me, that feels amazing" the brunette groaned as she arched her back a little.

Arizona smiled and ever so slowly started moving her tongue in and out of the dripping wet opening as she just as slowly rubbed the clitoris.

Callie gasped for air. Her body was on fire. She was sure of it. She could feel all of her nerve endings react to the amount of pleasure the blonde currently brought on her, but at the same time it was like she couldn't feel anything at all. It was unbelievable and the brunette treasured every second of it.

"Faster. I need it…" the words died in Callie's throat as Arizona instantly started moving her tongue in and out in a much faster pace as she rubbed the clit harder at the same time.

The blonde felt Callie's walls start to contract a little as soon as she picked up the pace. Her girlfriend was close already. But it was too soon. Arizona wanted to drag this out a little bit.

The blonde pulled back and moved up her girlfriend's body to suck on a light brown nipple. She moved her fingers from the clit and to her girlfriend's dripping entrance. As she bit down lightly on the erect bud she eased two fingers inside the brunette.

As she started a steady pace pumping in and out of Callie's core she connected her lips with plump ones. Callie frantically kissed Arizona back. Her hands found the hem of the blonde's top and her hands made their way up under it to two pert breasts.

"Mmmmhmm" the blonde murmured in satisfaction against her girlfriend's lips. The brunette had always known exactly how to turn Arizona on to the point of no return by touching her breasts.

Callie reached down with one hand, snaked it around Arizona's lower back and pulled the blonde in closer. She then moved her hand from the other breast and snapped open the blonde's shorts. She pushed them down and after struggling a bit with the panties, the brunette just took a hold on each side of the fabric and ripped them from her girlfriend's body.

"Calliope!" Arizona exclaimed in shock as she pulled back a little never stopping the pace her fingers kept thrusting in and out of a soaking wet center creating the most delicious sound. The brunette just looked at her with almost black eyes and let one of her fingers press down on the blonde's clit.

Arizona closed her eyes in pleasure. "Shit. That feels amazing. You feel amazing" the blonde breathed out.

Before the blonde even knew what was happening Callie had sat herself up on the table and entered the blonde's center with two fingers. Arizona moaned at the action and subconsciously started scissoring her own fingers inside Callie.

The brunette whimpered and pulled Arizona even closer resting her cheek against her girlfriend's. "I love you so freaking much" Callie let out before she started kissing an ivory neck as she pumped feverishly in and out of the blonde's wet core.

The brunette felt her orgasm approach fast while Arizona kept scissoring her fingers as she thrusted them in and out. "I want us to come together" Callie croaked out.

"Me too" Arizona breathed out panting. "I'm almost there Calliope"

The brunette turned her head and kissed her girlfriend with all the love she could muster. She pulled back for a split second looking into lustful dark blue eyes. "I'm going to come. God Arizona" Callie whimpered before capturing pink lips once again. A couple of seconds later the brunette reached her high and stars exploded behind her eyelids as her body started shaking uncontrollably. She vaguely registered as Arizona cried out into her mouth and her walls started clenching around the brunette's own fingers in a rhythm matching her own.

Arizona felt as a pool of liquid flooded from the brunette's core and onto her hand as Callie's walls clenched around ivory fingers, and the feeling was so amazing that it made the blonde's own orgasm hit instantly. Her lips were still attached to Callie's but it only served for the two of them to swallow each other's moans and cries of pleasure as they both came. Hard. It was like the feeling of the other woman coming prolonged both of their orgasms.

When both their bodies had stopped pulsating, Callie kissed Arizona passionately again before pulling back to look at her girlfriend. She smiled at the sated look the ivory face in front of her sported. Blue eyes shone with happiness and love as they connected with brown ones.

"I always, always love spending time with you. No matter what we do. But I'd really, really missed that" Arizona breathed out as she leaned in and brushed her lips against plump ones.

"I'd missed it too" Callie said and kissed her girlfriend. She moaned a little as she took notice of her own taste on her girlfriend's lips for the first time. "And you absolutely didn't suck at that" the brunette stated as she pulled back and looked at the other woman.

Arizona blushed a little. "I really liked doing it. Next time I'm going to let you come like that. I just wanted it all to last a little longer" the blonde softly said as she averted her gaze to the wall behind the brunette.

Callie reached out and grabbed Arizona's head turning it to make it possible for the brunette to lock her own eyes on cerulean ones. "I wanted it to last a little longer too Arizona. And I really liked what you did. Because coming with you were unbelievably hot. And good. Jesus, it was so good" the brunette groaned.

The blonde leaned in and rested her forehead against Callie's. "It was" she said as she paused "I'm going to miss you so much when you leave tomorrow. I hate that I probably won't see you again until Teddy and Addison's wedding" Arizona sadly said.

"I'm going to miss you too" Callie said as she pulled back. "But let's not think about that just yet. We still have all night. And I'm not going to let you out of my sight before 5.30 tomorrow morning" the brunette finished.

Arizona chuckled and moved away from the table. "Well that's going to make for some interesting trips to the bathroom" the blonde deadpanned.

Then she looked down at her shorts that pooled at her ankles. "And what do you suggest I do now?" Arizona asked her girlfriend as she put her hands on her waist hinting at her missing underwear.

Callie just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Go commando!" the brunette stated indifferently.

The blonde growled. "I can't believe you tore them apart like that."

"And I can't believe you lured me out here with the sole purpose of fucking me. It's your dad's workshop!" the brunette fired back with a smile.

A huge grin spread on Arizona's face as she pulled her shorts back up. "I'll never be able to think of anything else ever again whenever I'm in here."

Callie chuckled as she slid down from the table. "Just remember your underwear Casanova. Because I really don't want your dad coming home and finding them."

Arizona picked up her panties and put them in her back pocket. Then she picked up the blanket and draped it across her arm. She stepped in front of Callie that was just putting her shorts back on. Arizona reached out and pulled the brunette to her by her shirt. "You're the most breathtaking woman in the whole world. And I feel so lucky that I'm the one who gets to be loved by you."

The brunette smiled and leaned in. "I'm the lucky one, hot stuff" Callie said as she planted a loving, lingering kiss on pink lips.

Arizona chuckled. "Don't call me 'hot stuff'. It makes me sound like a one hit wonder."

"But you kind of are" Callie stated. "Because there's no one like you out there. And it absolutely impossible to replicate you" the brunette said.

"Oooookay. We're going back to Tim and Amanda now" the blonde said with a smile and grabbed her girlfriend's hand. They laughed and played around while making their way back to the house.

When they entered they walked to the den with a little detour so Arizona could put the blanket in the laundry basket at the back entrance of the house.

Tim and Amanda looked up from their spot at the couch as the two women entered. The red head smiled at them and turned her attention back to 'Transformers' that played across the screen.

When Callie and Arizona made their way to the love seat and sat down Tim followed them with his eyes and a smug grin. "So Callie, did she show you anything pretty out there?" the man asked with a glint in his eyes.

The brunette looked at her girlfriend with a smile and reached over to intertwine her fingers with ivory ones. "It was beautiful" she softly answered as she pulled Arizona to her and placed a kiss on top of blonde locks.

* * *

Tuesday morning had rolled around much too soon for Arizona's liking. It was 5.15 and the whole Robbins family had gotten up to bid Callie farewell. Even Amanda and Tim had showed up.

They were all gathered in the hall and the brunette was in the process of saying goodbye to Barbara. "Thank you so much for welcoming me like this Barbara. I've really had a wonderful time here" Callie truthfully stated.

The older Robbins woman pulled the brunette in for a hug. "You're welcome Callie. I've loved having you here. I've never seen my daughter as happy as she's been these last couple of days, and if you promise to make an effort to keep her that happy then I guarantee you, you always have a home here."

"Thank you" Callie sincerely said before moving on to her girlfriend's father. "Thank you for making an effort to try and teach my not-so-handy self to do carpentry work, Daniel. And thank you for our talk. I'm grateful you took the time to listen to me" the brunette said as she was engulfed in a big hug.

"I meant what I said. You're an extraordinary woman Callie. My Arizona couldn't have done better" Daniel said with a soft tone.

Arizona wondered for a second what her dad and Callie had talked about. She'd completely forgotten to ask the brunette that. The blonde looked briefly at Amanda who looked at little disheartened as Callie made her way to her.

The brunette gave the red head her biggest smile yet. "Do you have your phone on you?" Callie asked Amanda who nodded her head. She had a hint of sadness in her green eyes and even though the brunette had an idea as to why that might be, she didn't know how to change that, nor did she know if it was her place to do so.

Amanda stood with her phone in her hand and looked at Callie. "Could you maybe unlock it for me?" the brunette asked as she smiled.

The red head did as she was asked and Callie took the phone from the other woman's hand. She pressed some buttons and handed it back. "I've put my number in there. You can find it under 'A-list'. Just text me or call me whenever those two get too much to handle" the brunette said as she pointed to the Robbins siblings who both pouted a little.

"I like you Amanda. And even though we haven't talked that much, I'm sure we're going to get along really, really well. I just want to make sure we stay in touch even if we're maybe not able to meet here in Little Creek that often. And let me know if you ever come to LA. We can get a cup of coffee or something and hang out just the two of us. That way we can gossip and bitch about their annoying habit of rolling their eyes. Because I've noticed they both do that a lot" the brunette stated and just on cue two sets of blue eyes rolled.

Amanda chuckled a little and hugged Callie. "Thank you. I'd like that. And that IS horribly annoying" the red head said with a chuckle before sighing a little. "I can't believe you get to call him Daniel already. I don't think I'm even close" she whispered

The brunette chuckled a little "Don't worry. It's just because I'm famous. People tend to think they know me already when they meet me, because I've been in the media. You'll win him over in no time. Just be patient. He's not as tough as he looks" Callie whispered back and eased out of the hug.

Callie then turned to Tim. She reached out and pulled the blonde man in for a big hug. "Thank you Tim. I've really enjoyed spending time with you and getting to know you. And don't worry I'll hook you up with a couple of tickets, so you can go see me half naked in November for free."

Tim laughed and pulled back. "I don't think I'll find it quite as satisfying now that I've gotten to know you better. Don't get me wrong, I really did like it when you wore that bikini yesterday; you're out of this world beautiful, Callie. But you are also so good for Arizona. These last two days she's sparkled like never before. And I can never look at you again, half naked or not, without my main thought being gratitude" he said as he smiled at the brunette.

Callie gave Tim a thankful smile. "Oh, I almost forgot. I've got something for you" the brunette said as she pulled out a small envelope from her back pocket. "But don't open it until I'm gone, okay?"

The man took the envelope from Callie's hand. "Okay. But you really didn't have to get me anything" Tim let out with confusion.

"I know. But I wanted to" the brunette sincerely stated.

"Well thank you in advance then" Tim said with a smile.

Callie chuckled. "Why don't you wait with thanking me until you've seen what it is" the brunette let out with a wink. Then she looked at her girlfriend who had tears filling her beautiful blue eyes.

"Arizona, please don't" Callie softly exclaimed as she reached out and grabbed the other woman's hand.

The blonde smiled. "I'm sorry. It's just that I've gotten really used to having you here with me. I'm going to miss you" Arizona breathed out.

Callie kissed the ivory hand clasped in her own before tugging Arizona to her and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. "I'm going to miss you too" the brunette said as she pulled back a little breathlessly. "And I WILL see you before Teddy and Addison's wedding. I promise. We'll figure something out. You can come visit me in Vegas. I'll get us a hotel room and sneak you in the backdoor so nobody notices if I have too. And then we'll just stay in the room for the entirety of your stay" Tim let out a wolf whistle behind the two and Callie turned to smile briefly at him "not like that. We can talk and live off room service and just be girlfriends. Not two friends sightseeing in Vegas."

Arizona sighed and smiled a little "I'd really like that." Then the blonde yanked the brunette to her and hugged her with everything she had. "I love you. Get back to Nevada safely. Text me the second you get there, okay. And please remember to eat. I don't want to visit a sack of bones in Vegas."

Callie felt as one of her girlfriend's tears landed on her shoulder. "I promise. And I love you too Arizona. Thank you for some very wonderful days here. I'm so happy you invited me. Your family is great. I can only hope my family make you feel half as welcome as yours made me feel" the brunette sincerely stated before pulling back a little letting Arizona keep her arms around her waist.

The brunette reached up and wiped away some of the blonde's tears as she felt some brim her own eyes. "Please don't cry. You'll make me cry."

The blonde shook her head. "Don't. Then you can't see the road and it'll make you crash your car in a horrible accident and then I'm going to have to live without you and I'll be miserable and unhappy for the rest of my life."

Callie laughed a little. "Dramatic much, hot stuff?" she teasingly said. Then she leaned in and kissed pink lips one last time in a lingering peck. "I've got to go. And don't worry; you're not going to have to live without me just yet. I'll see you again before you know it" the brunette gently said as she untangled herself from the blonde.

Arizona nodded her head and forced a smile on her face. "Yeah. Call me tonight when you're done filming for the day. It doesn't matter how late it is."

"I will" Callie promised before walking to the door and grabbing her suitcase. "Bye guys. Take care. I hope I get to see you all again soon."

Daniel opened the door for the brunette and she made her way to her car. Before she got in she waved at the five people standing on the porch.

Then she started the car and made her way off the Robbins' estate. As Callie's car left the drive way, Arizona watched Tim slowly open the letter. As he read the words his eyes widened and got uncharacteristically big.

"What does it say?" Barbara asked her clearly shocked son.

The young blonde man looked up at his parents, girlfriend and then at his sister. "I can't believe she did this!" Tim breathed out in disbelief but with a big smile on his face.

Both Barbara and Daniel made their way to Tim and Daniel took the letter from him. He read it and smiled at his wife before handing her the letter. Barbara read it as well and looked at her son and then her daughter. "Your girl is really something else, Arizona."

Arizona furrowed her brows in wonder. She stepped forward, took the letter from her mother's hand and started reading as her parents made their way back into the house with smiles on their faces.

 _Dear Tim.  
I've really enjoyed my time here in Little Creek. Especially our talk yesterday. I can't begin to describe how thankful I am that you forfeited your dream for Arizona to fulfill hers. Because that ultimately led her to me. And even though I didn't know it, now I see that I've been waiting for her my entire life. When I'm with her I feel like I can finally breathe for the very first time._

 _Thank you for being such a good brother to her. I know she really treasures and loves you. And even though she haven't told me in so many words, I know it pains her a little that you've had to forget about the dreams that you shared with her on your parents' bench._  
 _But nobody is going to be forced to give up their dreams if I can help it. And I know I'm years late and that you should have gotten the chance to fulfill it earlier on in life, but I'm here now and I hope the segment 'better late than never' or maybe even 'Carpe Diem' applies for a situation like this to you._

 _I don't know how much Arizona told you about me (but seeing as you're a huge fan, you probably already know this); my dad is Carlos Torres. Yes, the Carlos Torres who's the CEO of a multi-billion dollar hotel chain. I talked to him. And I told him I've gotten to know this really great guy with a burning desire to study Biomedical Engineering. Of course he liked you instantly when I told him about you (even though I couldn't give him the full story, because he doesn't know about Arizona and me yet). Therefor he and I have collaboratively granted you a full college scholarship through the Torres Foundation. You can study wherever you want, as long as you can get accepted (and I've already checked with Georgia Tech; there's a spot there for you if you want it). We can talk more about the details of it all at another time._

 _Please accept it Tim. Please take this opportunity to make your dreams come true as well.  
Thank you for being part of the reason I met the greatest love of my life.  
Sincerely and with gratitude  
Callie_

Arizona looked at Tim with tears in her eyes. "You're going to college?"

Tim smiled back at his sister. "I'm going to college!"

The blonde woman ran straight in to the arms of her big brother. "Oh my God Tim, you're going to college! I'm so happy for you" Arizona said with a disbelieving chuckle as a couple of tears made their way down ivory cheeks.

Tim pulled back and wiped the tears off his sister's face. "Me too. But I want you to know, that even if this hadn't happened, I wouldn't have been unhappy Arizona. But you would have been. Had I gone to college ten years ago and you'd stayed here, you would have been so miserable. Which is why I let you go chase your dreams." The man smiled and took the letter from his sister's hand waving it around in the air. "And it TOTALLY paid off, because then you went and got yourself a super-hot, super-generous, super-amazing girlfriend. I liked her before, but I have to say I really, really like her now!"

Arizona smiled at her brother. "I know how you feel. I just want to throw myself in the nearest car, race to the airport, hug her as tightly as I can and never ever let her go" the blonde sighed and looked towards the road her girlfriend disappeared down ten minutes ago.

The young blonde man chuckled. "I don't think she'll be too thankful for that once she has to drag your ass around the pole as some sort of deadweight" Tim joked with his sister.

The blonde woman laughed and moved back a little as Amanda made her way to the duo. The red head smiled when Tim offered her the letter and put his arm around her as she took it. As she finished reading it she looked up at him. "You don't have to choose Georgia Tech, Tim. We'll make it work no matter where you decide to go. You should look at the options. Make the most of the scholarship."

Tim smiled at her. "I will. I promise. But when I look at the pros and cons I can assure you right now that Georgia Tech and Atlanta has some major perks. I want to be with you Amanda" the blonde man tenderly said.

"I want to be with you too. But I still think you should consider it really carefully. I can look for a job wherever you decide to go if we can't deal with long distant" the red head reasoned.

"We'll look at it together, okay?" Tim asked with a smile.

Amanda smiled back. "Okay." Then the red head turned her attention to Arizona. "She's really great Arizona. And not only because of this. She just has this way of making everybody feel important and respected and treasured. That's really rare."

The blonde smiled at her brother's girlfriend. "I know." Then Arizona yawned making her brother and his girlfriend chuckle. "I'm going to go catch an extra few hours of sleep. You guys staying or going back to Tim's?"

Tim looked at Amanda who shrugged her shoulders. "Then we're staying. But I think we'll just sit here on the porch swing and talk about all of this for a while" the man answered his sister.

"You can go to your old room if you want to rest for a bit as well" Arizona suggested. "Callie only slept there for the first night anyway."

The blonde man smiled at his little sister. "I love how happy she makes you Arizona. It's like she's the missing piece to your puzzle. Finally they all fit and it seems she's the reason. Promise me you'll fight like hell to keep her. She's good for you."

Arizona smiled really big. "I promise you I will. These last two days have really proven to me how important she is to me. And you're so right. She really is the missing piece" the blonde woman said as she moved to hug her brother again. Then she hugged Amanda.

"I'm going to go lie down" Arizona stated and turned to walk into the house.

"Tell her I'll call her later to say thank you." Her brother's voice made the blonde woman stop and turn around again.

Arizona smiled at Tim. "I will" the blonde woman said before once again making her way towards her room. She loved Callie more right now than she'd ever imagined possible. The kindness the brunette had just showed was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before and it made Arizona's heart burst with love and gratitude.

"I can't believe she's mine" Arizona whispered to herself. Then a big smile spread across her face as she threw herself on her bed. Callie's visit had started on such a low level but it had ended much better than the blonde had ever dared to imagine. And Arizona couldn't wait until she got to see Callie again.

 **And that was it for the VERY long chapter 27. I hope you guys didn't fall asleep halfway through it :D**

 **Please tell me what you think of it and leave me many, many comments ;)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**

 **P.S. Just to remind you all again; I'm off to Malaysia in a few days! :D Yeeeeeeeeees, can't wait! :P I'll be back with a new chapter of HD &HD in the beginning of August (I'm back on Danish ground again the 3rd, so sometime soon after that I expect chapter 28 to be uploaded). If you want to see a few pictures from my trip, I have every intention of posting some on my Twitter ThisIsYourJulie :D Take care, stay happy and enjoy summer. You're all amazing and important :D See ya! **


	28. Chapter 28

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **I'M BAAAAAAAAACK! Have you all missed me? I know I missed you! Hope you're all well :)**

 **Vacation was AMAZING and Malaysia is really beautiful. If you ever get the opportunity to travel there, I can highly recommend doing so! They have the most beautiful nature there, Kuala Lumpur is very interesting due to the multicultural feel of it and the food is just outstanding. From my point of view there is absolutely no reason not to go visit that country. Oh, and the shopping is really, really cheap compared to Danish (and probably most western countries') standards.**

 **However my holiday ended with me breaking up with my girlfriend in Doha Airport. We were meeting up there because she happened to come back from a business trip the same time I came from vacation and it turned out, that she'd spent my time away finding out that she is pregnant and expecting a child with one of her British colleagues. Not the most ideal end to my vacation to discover that my (ex)girlfriend is in fact a cheating bitch (and the irony of the similarity to the Callie/Arizona/Mark storyline on Grey's is not lost on me)!**

 **Anyway, moving on to more important things ;) THANK YOU for all of your lovely reviews for chapter 27. I continue to be very happy that you all like HD &HD so much. And welcome to all the new readers.**

 **To the guest who now had no reason not to study: I hope you studied hard these past weeks then! ;) And you should always study hard! :P**

 **To jolynn15: Thank you – and I might have some ideas for other fics once this one is over some day. It's good to know that there'll be an audience for that :D**

 **To srock: Thank you. Both for you review and for the wonderful advice and talking about Malaysia during my time there!**

 **To the guest who's rhythm is thrown off by the comma splices: I'm sorry about that – but like I stated more than once; English isn't my first language. And Danish grammar is very different from English grammar on the commas. And my fingers just kind of puts them where there would be a Danish comma ;) I'll try to pay more attention to it though!**

 **To LoveComesFromUs: Wow. THANK YOU. And don't worry about the language. English isn't my first language either. I'm really grateful that you took the time to write such a long and lovely review for my story. And I'm happy you like it and think it's realistic – and addictive! ;) Even though I think you should prioritize sleeping! :D Please continue reviewing and letting your thoughts about my story be known.**

 **To calzonamad: Jubiii – jeg er vild med det, når jeg kan se, der er danskere, der læser historien! ;) Jeg håber, du bliver ved med at læse med :)**

 **To RunningOnSunshine94: Welcome to the story! :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **The wait is over – enjoy chapter 28! ;)**

CHAPTER 28:

Callie made her way into her father's Las Vegas hotel. She was absolutely exhausted. It had been 12 days since she left the Robbins family in Little Creek and she'd been filming from dawn till dusk every day since. But as she approached the reception, she felt her exhaustion slowly diminish. Because waiting for her at her suite was her beautiful and amazing girlfriend.

"Hello Ms. Torres" the receptionist said with a smile at the brunette. "Here's your key. Your agent has already picked up the second key and deemed the suite appropriate. And we'd done as you asked to grant you some privacy and give you the best possible surroundings to relax and get some of your energy back."

Callie returned the smile and took the keycard from the young woman's hand. "Thank you" the brunette answered sincerely. Callie had reached out to her agent when she had to find a way to sneak Arizona into the hotel. The brunette had convinced Arizona that they could trust Natalie and that the agent had no reason whatsoever to tattle on them to the press.

Natalie had taken the news of Arizona and Callie being a couple really well. She'd been ecstatic for Callie actually. And she'd started to come up with a plan right away for the communication strategy once the couple was ready to announce their relationship to the world. The brunette had told her agent that they were still far away from that, but Natalie had reasoned that it was never too soon to start preparing for something like that.

Callie made her way to the elevator with a smile to the people gauging at her on her way there. She got in the lift and slid her key card against the receiver before she pressed the button for the 60th floor. She sighed as the doors closed and leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. She'd really been looking forward to the next two days. Not only did she get to spend them with her favorite blonde, but she didn't have to go to work. Her body was sore and she couldn't wait to just kick back and relax in the bathtub. Preferably with Arizona there too.

The brunette opened her eyes as the elevator pinged and got out of the lift. She slowly walked down the hall and approached what had always been 'her suite' whenever she visited this specific hotel.

Callie slipped the keycard into the lock as she reached the suite and opened the door when the light turned green. Before she was through the threshold an ivory hand connected with her wrist and yanked her inside, slamming her up against the door effectively closing it.

Then the softest lips the brunette had ever kissed connected with hers. The pink lips were pressed hard against her own and Callie couldn't help but moan as her girlfriend's tongue tenderly traced her bottom lip. The brunette opened her mouth and granted it access. Arizona's tongue instantly sought her own and started the passionate dance that they'd both become so addictive to.

When the kiss came to a natural stop Callie opened her eyes and looked at Arizona who was staring at her with dark blue eyes. "I could really get used to being greeted like that" the brunette said with a smile and slightly out of breath.

Arizona smiled at her and captured plump lips again in a lingering kiss. Then she nuzzled her nose against the brunette's. "I won't be opposed to always greet you like that. But today you really deserved it" the blonde breathed out. "You're so amazing Calliope. Words can't describe it. Thank you again for doing that for Tim." Arizona kissed her girlfriend once more and pulled back to look at her with teary eyes. "Thank you Callie. Just…Thank you" the blonde finished.

Callie reached up and caressed and ivory cheek. "Your brother is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He deserved it Arizona. I'm just really thankful I could help him." The brunette smiled at her girlfriend.

"What did your parents think of it?" Callie hesitantly asked as she withdrew her hand from Arizona's face. The brunette had been a little nervous that she might have gone too far. That her girlfriend's parents would think that she'd overstepped somehow. After all she had only met them that one time.

Arizona smiled at her clearly nervous girlfriend. "They are really grateful to you Callie. I know they hate the fact that they were only able to give one of us the opportunity of a college education. I've offered numerous times these last nine months to take over the loan they took to make it possible for me to attend U of M, but they won't allow it."

The blonde sighed "and that just makes NO sense. I just really hoped that they'd let me pay and then maybe they could find a way to help Tim out. Give him the chance of going to college as well" Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "But then awesome you came along and secured him a full scholarship. And I will never be able to thank you enough."

Callie leaned in and kissed pink lips. "You don't need to thank me at all. The only thing I did was call my dad. It's not a big deal" the brunette said and shrugged her shoulders.

"But it's a big deal to me. And it's a really big deal to Tim. You made him very happy, Callie" Arizona softly said and snaked her arms around the brunette's waist pulling her even closer. Their faces were only inches apart.

"I love you. So much" the blonde softly whispered.

"I love you too" Callie whispered back with a small smile. "And I've missed your cute face."

Arizona giggled and the brunette could feel the air leaving her girlfriends mouth brush over her own. "Oh please. You've been so busy being brilliant, that you've barely had time to miss me let alone think about me."

"I always, always think about you" the brunette gently said. "The dressed-up you, the casual you, the laughing you, the sleeping you, the perky you and my personal favorite; the naked you" Callie finished with a sultry voice.

Arizona's eyes darkened in an instant and before Callie knew what was happening pink lips were pressed hard against her own again and a soft tongue forced its way into her mouth to battle her own for dominance. Callie gasped a little and moaned loudly when she felt one of Arizona's hand slowly trace the lining off her jeans before dipping inside and grapping her ass.

"I've missed you Calliope" the blonde breathed out as she tore her lips from her girlfriends for a second and enjoyed the feeling of having her hands on Callie's thong clad bum.

The brunette wouldn't have it though and she leaned back in to resume the kiss. Her own hand found its way into blonde locks and Callie couldn't help but grab a chunk of it and tug slightly. This prompted a sexy groan filled with desire to leave pink lips and the brunette felt wetness pool in her underwear at the sound.

"I don't want to have sex up against this door. I want to make use of the king size bed that's right there" Callie mumbled against her girlfriend's lips as she pointed blindly behind them with her free hand.

Arizona pulled back slightly and grinned as she continued to caress a perfect ass. "Then take me to bed woman" the blonde said smugly.

Callie raised her eyebrows at the blonde's words and she pushed herself off the door and in one swift motion she picked Arizona up and threw the other woman over her shoulder.

Arizona shrieked in surprise "Callie! Put me down."

The brunette laughed. "Nuuuh! It was you who told me to take you to bed and that's what I'm doing" Callie said as she shook her head while carrying the blonde towards the bed.

The blonde smiled and enjoyed the view of her the other woman's amazing ass working as she walked. Arizona reached out to touch it once again, but before she reached it, she was thrown down on the bed. She bounced a little on the soft madras and looked up at Callie who looked at her with nothing but adoration and desire shining in her eyes.

"You are truly, truly beautiful Arizona" Callie said with so much genuineness in her voice that it took Arizona's breath away.

"You are beautiful too, Calliope" the blonde said as she reached up and traced a finger along a caramel cheek. Then she took a fistful of Callie's shirt in her hand and pulled the brunette close to her, their lips almost touching. "And now I want you to fuck me. Because I am horny as hell, and you are looking at me with those sexy eyes that just make me want to rip your clothes off and chain you to the bed" Arizona let out.

Callie's eyes darkened to an almost black color. "Fuck, I love it when you say things like that" she breathed out "But how about we save the chaining to the bed to another time and I just blow your mind with my amazing tongue tonight?" the brunette asked as she leaned down and softly licked the blonde's earlobe.

A shiver ran down Arizona's spine at the action. "That…That would be okay too" she choked out as she turned her head slightly to give Callie more space.

The brunette started kissing and licking at her girlfriend's glorious neck and Arizona's moans grew increasingly louder much to Callie's pleasure. The brunette sneaked one of her hands underneath Arizona's t-shirt and found a breast covered in what appeared to be Callie's favorite bra on the blonde. It was pastel green and had a very distinct lace pattern. She tenderly traced a finger around her girlfriend's nipple before pinching it between her forefinger and thumb.

"Oh my God. Calliope, you need to stop making me get louder and louder. What if someone hears us?" the blonde moaned out.

"Don't worry about it. I've booked the entire floor" Callie breathed out as she continued to nipple at an ivory neck while she proceeded to caress a bra covered breast.

"What?" Arizona pushed Callie back in surprise.

Brown eyes locked with blue ones. "I've booked the entire floor" the brunette repeated.

The blonde furrowed her brows. "Why? This is the top floor of the building Callie! That's got to be expensive as hell!" Arizona said with an unexplainably edge to her tone.

Callie pulled her hand out from under her girlfriend's shirt and moved to sit up straddling the blonde's thighs. "First of all; I don't pay anything for this. My father owns the hotel, remember. Of course he'll ask me why I needed a whole floor when I go to Miami in three weeks, and then I'll tell him. But he will be okay with it. It's only for three nights. And secondly; I did it because I want the two of us to be able to just…be! I don't want us to have to restrain ourselves at all. If I want to tell you I love you, then I want to be able to do so without having to think about how close I am standing to the door" Callie leaned down towards Arizona again and lightly brushed her lips against pink ones as she hoarsely whispered. "And if I want to make you scream my name, then I want to be able to do that without having to worry about the people in the room next door hearing it. I want to make love to you the way I'm really longing to Arizona."

Then the brunette pulled back again and sat back up. "Plus, I wanted to be able to show you Vegas without having to leave the hotel. And this building happens to have the perfect location. We can go to some of the other balconies and you can see some of the sights Vegas is known for."

Arizona looked intensely at Callie with a look the brunette couldn't really place. "You're actually serious! It's not a joke? We're alone on this entire floor? Of your dad's hotel. How many rooms are there?"

"No actually, we're not alone on this entire floor. Natalie has a room on the other side of the building. She had to stay up here as well otherwise it would have seemed weird" the brunette explained with a shrug and a small smile.

"You didn't answer my question about the number of rooms" the blonde stated firmly.

Callie looked down at her girlfriend with her brows furrowed in confusion at the tone. "Why is that so important Arizona? Can't we just enjoy these two days together?"

Arizona pushed the brunette off and scrambled from the bed. "It's important to me okay? I never asked you to or meant for you to shut down an entire floor of your father's hotel just so you and I can get it on!" Arizona spit as she stood with her hands on her side at the foot of the bed.

The brunette was really surprised, and a bit hurt, about the way her girlfriend took this whole thing. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked straight at her now clearly fuming girlfriend. "You're mad at me for this?" the brunette asked disbelieving. "And it wasn't so we could 'get it on' Arizona. It was all for the purpose of securing our privacy…" she trailed off with bewilderment and slight irritation to her voice.

"You can't buy my love, Callie! And you need to stop trying to do so. Spending an insane amount of money on me all the time won't ensure that I don't leave you just like Mark did. I can't be bought, and this doesn't work that way" Arizona hissed as she gestured between the two of them. "Every time you and I see each other you have to throw money at it and make some sort of grand gesture. What is up with that? You take a private plane to come see me in Georgia after we fought, you send Tim to college after spending only a few days with him and now you've shut down an entire floor of daddy's hotel, so we can see the sights and you can fuck me however you want! It makes me feel like I'm Julia Roberts in pretty woman" the blonde spat with clear disdain in her voice.

Callie felt tears rise in her eyes at her girlfriend's words. "Do you even know what you just said? Like do you REALLY know what you just said to me? And what you accused me of? Seriously Arizona! What the hell! I love you and you should know I'm not trying to buy anything. I've never ever thought of you as a prostitute I need to pay to keep me entertained or to make you stay. What kind of person do you think I am? You're my GIRLFRIEND. The only thing I ever want is to be with you. I'm sorry that me loving you, apparently, make you feel like a hooker" the brunette said with clear anger and pain in her tone as she still kept her eyes locked on the blonde's.

The brunette closed her eyes briefly as a tear made its way down her cheek. "I think I'll go see Natalie. There is a conflict with my calendar and she asked that I'd come see her if I got a minute. Then you can take the time to think about what just left your mouth and consider this relationship and whether or not you want to stay in this hotel with me."

The brunette moved of the bed, past the blonde and towards the door. "You can look the number of rooms on the floor up on the hotel website if it's so fucking important to you" Callie said before leaving the suite slamming the door a little behind her.

Arizona looked at the door her girlfriend just left through. Her chest was heaving from all the anger that was accumulated inside her. She looked at the door as her heartbeat slowly fell and when it got back to normal a wave of regret rushed over her.

Callie had left the room crying and angry. Because of her. Once again Arizona had succeeded in making the brunette mad at her. And sad.

Arizona sighed. Callie was a wonderful girlfriend and Arizona knew that the brunette did the things she did out of love. But it still just threw the blonde off a little as she thought about just how often Callie did something extraordinary in this relationship. And it always involved A LOT of money. Arizona realized that she would never be able to do the same for her girlfriend.

It was like it had just occurred to the blonde how much money Callie wielded. Not from her own earnings, she'd always known about that money. But from her father's fortune. The brunette had shut down an entire floor of one of his hotels and he'd just let her. Surely he had to already know that the top floor of his Las Vegas hotel was currently occupied by his eldest daughter. And it didn't seem like he'd contacted Callie at all to question her about it. The thought of meeting Carlos Torres to whom she would be the woman who needed his daughter to arrive in a private plane, to make a scholarship grant appear for her brother and shut down a whole floor of his hotel for three nights made the blonde really nauseous. Because what kind of impression would that leave.

The blonde inhaled and shut her eyes tightly as it was suddenly very clear to her what had set her off in the first place. And it had nothing to do with Callie. Arizona sighed as she thought of Callie's words. Of course she wanted to stay. She was madly in love with the brunette and she didn't need to consider the relationship at all. She wanted to be with Callie and ONLY Callie. They had two whole days together before parting for more than a month and Arizona had managed to screw everything up within the first 30 minutes. All because her nervousness about what her girlfriend's dad would think of her had shown its ugly head and made her take it all out on Callie.

The blonde hung her head as tears slowly started making their way down her cheeks. Why did she keep messing this up? And hurting Callie. She didn't deserve that.

* * *

Arizona knocked on the door to Natalie's suite. Or what she assumed was Natalie's suite. It was the only other room on the floor that was locked. It had been an hour since Callie left the blonde alone in the hotel room and Arizona had spent the time standing at the same spot just thinking about everything.

The agent opened the door smiling. "Hi Arizona. Come on in" the other woman stated as she gestured for the blonde to make her way inside the suite.

Arizona stepped inside and her eyes instantly settled on Callie who was sitting on a couch looking at her phone and a day planner that lay on the coffee table side by side with a lot of papers.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom real quick" Natalie stated as her eyes shifted between the two women. "Sit down Arizona. Make yourself comfortable."

Arizona smiled at the agent and made her way to sit on the armchair across from the brunette. It was obvious that Callie was sad. The blonde could tell by the other woman's posture. With her shoulders slumped and back crumbled as she leaned forward towards the table. Her brown eyes were scanning a page and then she flipped to another date and sighed a little.

"Callie?" the blonde spoke softly making the brunette look up.

Brown eyes met blue. "Yes?"

Arizona smiled a little at her girlfriend. "Of course I want to stay. In fact I would love to never leave you or this hotel ever again" she tenderly said.

Callie looked down at the calendar again. "Okay."

The blonde furrowed her brows. "Okay?" Arizona asked.

The brunette closed the day planner and once again looked up and into blue eyes. "What do you want me to say Arizona? You compared yourself and our relationship to that of a prostitute and her sugar daddy. Although it has to be one of the greatest, most romantic love stories of all time it is not my dream to ever recreate it. And you threw the ending of my marriage with Mark in my face. Do you know how all that made me feel? The mere thought of you not being happy in this relationship or leaving me Arizona…" Callie trailed off with a shaky voice as she shook her head slightly.

"I wanted to take my father's private plane to go see you at your parents' place because I didn't want to waste time waiting at the airport if I could help it when our time together would be as limited as it was. And I wanted to talk my dad into providing Tim with a scholarship because your brother is kind and smart and I know it'll be a great service to the community if he gets to explore his interest in biomedical engineering" Callie said softly but with a bit of a firm edge to her voice.

"And I really wanted to shut down this floor to make sure you and I can spend these next two days just being girlfriends. No one to stare at either of us because we are who we are. Just you and me. To women who want to be together. The last time I saw you we were at your parents' house, and while I liked getting to know your family I didn't get to spend that much time just being with you. And I've missed you Arizona. We don't have to have sex at all the next two days if you don't feel like it. I just want to be in the same room as you. Let the sound of your breathing calm me. And let the sight of you make me feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be" the brunette finished tenderly and with tears brimming her eyes.

Blue eyes filled with tears as she looked at her still angry and obviously sad girlfriend. The brunette sighed and stood. She walked around the coffee table and squatted in front of her girlfriend. "What's going on, hot stuff?" the brunette gently asked as she laid a hand on her girlfriend's thigh.

Arizona smiled a little at Callie's use of her new nickname as she looked at the hand that rested on her thigh. Then her smile turned into a frown. "I'm so sorry Callie. I seem to have a talent for ruining this even though it's never my intention. I don't want you to be mad at me. Or sad."

Callie snorted a little at that. "Well what did you think was going to happen when you said I make you feel like a hooker from a chick flick?" the brunette asked. Then she sighed. "Why did you go crazy like that? Because as far as I remember, we ended up in that bed because you LIKED the fact that I got your brother a scholarship. And before I even knew what was happening it seemed to be one of the biggest offends ever made instead. Forgive me for being just a little confused."

Arizona closed her eyes and breathed deeply before opening them again and looking at her girlfriend. "What if your father thinks I'm a gold-digger?"

The brunette raised her eyebrows in surprise. She'd not expected the blonde to get that upset just because she was scared about what Callie's dad might think of her. "That's ridiculous Arizona."

Blue eyes hardened as they continued to look at brown orbs. "Don't diminish my fears and worries Callie! And how is that ridiculous. When he finds out how much money your romance with me costs him it'll make it seem like I'm never willing to make an effort. You make grand gestures left and right and I do nothing!" Arizona harshly stated as a few tears travelled down her cheeks. She averted her gaze to her lap.

Callie shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that it's ridiculous because I know for a fact he won't ever think you're a gold-digger."

The brunette then reached up and cupped her girlfriend's cheek. "You're sweet and outgoing and positive and caring. You're everything he could ever wish for me. And if spending a little of his money can make our lives a little easier then I can guarantee you he won't mind. I wouldn't have gotten permission to take his plane, if he'd had to use it himself. But it was just sitting there. Waiting for the next time he had to fly anywhere. And Tim is not the first person to receive a scholarship from the Torres Foundation. In fact two of Aria's ex-boyfriends, one of Jael's friends not to mention a bunch of people we don't even know are currently studying at their dream colleges because of it. But my father doesn't just hand them out. We have to vouch for them every single time we suggest someone, and I'm sure he checked up on Tim in every way possible before agreeing to it. And this hotel is open for business 365 days a year. The shutting down of one floor for three nights almost won't be noticeable at the end of the year" Callie tenderly explained.

She made blue eyes look at her before continuing. "And that's not true. You do so many things for me Arizona. The most important one being loving me. That's the best thing that's happened to me and it makes me so happy whenever you look at me and your eyes sparkle in that way only I get to see."

The brunette leaned in and rubbed her nose against an ivory one. "Barring that it goes well with telling my parents that I've found the woman of my dreams, then he's going to love you Arizona. He might look all business and I don't doubt for a second that his employees have an insane amount of respect for him, maybe even fear him a little, but on the inside he's just a big softy. Your dad is way more intimidating than mine. You've got nothing to worry about. I'll put my money on Rei being the hardest nut to crack" Callie let out with a small chuckle.

Arizona smiled and shifted so her lips softly connected with Callie's in a short, soft kiss. "I'm really sorry" she let out as they parted.

The brunette smiled. "Arizona Robbins questions her undeniable charm and gets meet-the-parents nerves. Who would have thought?" Callie joked before turning serious. "But if you could maybe just tell me what was bothering you next time that would be great! Because the tantrum you just threw wasn't very attractive."

Before the blonde had the chance to reply, Natalie reappeared from the bathroom. She hesitantly approached the couple. Callie had turned up at her hotel room with teary eyes and the agent didn't need to ask to know that the two women had to have been fighting for Callie to come see her about her calendar that fast.

A pair of blue eyes and a pair of brown eyes looked up at her. "Soooo, is everything okay here?" she asked.

Callie smiled and rose from her squat position in front of the blonde. She moved back towards her previous seat on the couch. "Yes. And I've been thinking about the calendar thing. If we maybe move the promotion interview with 'Hollywood News' from Friday to another day, then we can reschedule my appearance at that drama summer-school to Friday and then I'll have all of Saturday free for Addison's bachelorette party. Because I need to be there for that Nat. She's my best friend and she's getting married. It's a big deal" the brunette said as she looked at her agent.

"Of course you have to be there for that Callie. I'll fix it. Is there anything I can cancel if I have to?" the agent asked.

The brunette sighed and opened the day planner to scan her weekend. "If it's absolutely necessary we can cancel Rei's visit here on Sunday. That frees a whole day. But you need to let me know if that's going to have to happen because then I need to call her myself" Callie said as she traced her sister's name on the page.

Arizona looked at Natalie who sent a compassionate smile towards her client. "I'm going to do everything I can to avoid that."

Callie smiled knowingly at her agent. "Yeah, she'll kill me and freeze me out for at least a month if I cancel. It's going to take an unbelievable amount of Instagram photos to make up for that!" Then she closed the day planner again. "You'll try to sort it out? And let me know how it goes?"

Natalie nodded her head. "Absolutely."

The brunette rose from her seat. "Thank you. And please order whatever you want from room service. Or you can go to the restaurant or the spa or whatever. I've already let them know that they need to accommodate you in any way you wish to" Callie said to her smiling agent that mouthed a thank you.

Then the brunette turned towards her girlfriend. "Want to go sightseeing with me?" Callie questioned with a smile.

Arizona rose from the chair smiling. "I'd love to."

Callie reached a hand out for Arizona to take. As an ivory hand grabbed hers the brunette squeezed it and smiled at the blonde before turning her attention back to her agent. "Thank you Nat. I owe you big time."

Natalie chuckled. "You pay me, remember" she said as she winked at Callie.

The brunette laughed. "I remember you taking a big chunk of my paycheck every month, yes. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate your work and your willingness to always fit your schedule to my needs."

The agent smiled. "I know you think you're a difficult client Callie. But you couldn't be more wrong."

Callie offered Natalie one last smile before starting to walk towards the door tugging Arizona with her. "I'll see you Nat." With that the two women were out the door.

The brunette walked with determination towards one of the other suites. She opened the door for Arizona to walk in. As the blonde approached the big floor to ceiling window 'The Strip' spread out before her.

"Beautiful, isn't it" Callie asked as she snaked her arms around Arizona's waist linking them together in front of her stomach.

Arizona leaned back and reveled in the feeling of Callie holding her for a second. "It really is."

"Do you want to go out on the balcony?" the brunette asked.

The blonde shook her head. "No. Let's just stay here like this."

Callie smiled and kissed the side of Arizona's head. "Sure."

They stood in silence for a few minutes looking at the city spread beneath them. Arizona leaned her head back against Callie's shoulder. "Are we okay?" she softly asked.

The brunette exhaled and rested her head against the blonde's. "I'm not going to lie Arizona; your words really hurt. And I'm so sorry if you ever feel like I'm trying to buy you. Or feel like I think I'm better or more important than you just because my father happens to own a chain of hotels. Because that's not the case at all."

Callie inhaled the scent of Arizona and instantly felt herself relax. "You're exceptional Arizona and you make me so happy. I know that I say I love you all the time, but I really don't think you get it. I don't think you understand just how all-consuming my feelings for you are."

The blonde turned around and looked her girlfriend straight in the eyes. "I'm so sorry I hurt you Callie. And you don't make me feel like a prostitute. I'm sorry I said that. It was just like I realized all of a sudden how much money your family actually possesses. And it made me nervous because I'm not even close to having that kind of money."

Arizona reached up and let her hand slide through brown locks. "And I DO know Callie. Because I can assure you that I feel the same way about you."

The brunette pursed her lips in thought. "I'm going to say something and I need for you to try to not get mad at me, okay?"

The blonde nodded her head.

"I'm not going to be your personal punching bag forever Arizona. I'm not saying this to criticize you or change you, because I love you. All of you. I just ask that you maybe take notice of it. I know myself Arizona. And I'm going to be fed up with it someday. So I need you to stop. I need you to not go from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds. I need you to take a second and think about what is bothering you before you go off at me. And if it IS me then fine; yell at me and insult me all you want. But if it's not, then please just talk to me about it. Calmly. I know I'm not flawless by any means, and feel free to point out all of my flaws if you want to. Because I want to work on them. I want to be the best possible girlfriend to you" Callie softly said.

Arizona gave the other woman a small smile. "I know Callie. And I'm going to try to not do that anymore. I promise. Because you don't deserve it. And you are an amazing girlfriend to me. The best. I'm so in love with you."

Then the blonde threw herself at the brunette and captured plump lips in a searing kiss. Callie felt the fire starting to build in her instantly and she eagerly kissed Arizona back. Teeth and tongues clashed as the kiss continued to grow in passion.

Callie pushed the blonde backwards until Arizona's back was pressed firmly against the window. She planted her hands on the window on either side of Arizona's waist.

The blonde reached up and grabbed Callie by the neck pulling her even closer. She loved the feeling of having the brunette this close.

When her lungs burned for lack of oxygen Arizona pulled back. She kept her eyes closed and her hand played with the small hairs at the back of her girlfriend's neck. "I'm done with sightseeing for now" she breathed out. "I want to go back to our room."

Callie smiled as she looked at her girlfriend who just stood there with her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted. The brunette couldn't help herself and leaned in to tenderly kiss those intoxicating pink lips and suck lightly at the blonde's bottom lip. "Let's go hot stuff."

The blonde opened her eyes to stare straight into dark brown ones. She put her other hand up and around Callie's neck as well. The brunette got the hint and smiled as she reached down and grabbed the back of Arizona's thighs hiking her up, so the blonde could wrap her legs around the brunette's waist.

Arizona leaned in and kissed her girlfriend. Then she rested her forehead on Callie's. "How come I always end up being the one to carry you around when you're the one getting up disgustingly early to work out?" the brunette deadpanned.

The blonde giggled a little and pulled back to look Callie in the eyes. "Because you're so very good at it. It always leads to really enjoyable things when you carry me anywhere" Arizona softly said as she looked adoringly at the brunette.

Callie kissed Arizona one more time before she started making her way out the door and down the hall towards their suite. She never once took her yes from Arizona's and as they reached the door to their suite, Callie gently pushed Arizona's back against it and kissed her lovingly. She pulled back and looked at her girlfriend. "Before we go in there I'm going to say one last thing, and then we'll just forget about what happened earlier, okay?"

Arizona smiled at Callie and nodded her head. "Of course Calliope."

The brunette smiled back at the blonde. "I now know that Mark left me because he was in fact starting to fall in love with someone else. But it's a sore subject to me Arizona. Him leaving me really hurt. And I'm begging you; if you EVER, for any reason, feel like you might not want to be with me anymore, then you tell me. Please don't just leave me out of nowhere because that will kill me."

The blonde sighed and leaned forward to rest her head against the other woman's. "I'm sorry. I know it's a sore subject. And I never should have said anything like that. Because I'm not going to leave you. I love you and I can't imagine ever feeling like I want to leave you. But I promise that I'll talk to you about it, if I ever do."

Callie pulled back and smiled. She bit her bottom lip the way she knew drove the blonde crazy with want and watched as Arizona's eyes turned the shade of blue that meant her body was reacting very well to the brunette's actions.

The brunette chuckled at the sight. "Like what you see?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Arizona snorted. "You know I do. Because you did it on purpose. And now I'm really, really turned on. So what are you going to do about that?" the blonde sultry said.

Callie pulled the blonde away from the door and held the blonde up with one arm as she found her keycard in her back pocket. She opened the door and made her way to the bed with the blonde still attached to her. She let them both fall on the madras and caught herself on her arms before landing on Arizona with all her weight.

"You didn't close the door" the blonde stated as she looked up into brown eyes.

"I know" Callie answered while her eyes scanned her girlfriend's face. "Do you want me to go do it?"

Arizona drew the brunette closer to her by the legs she still had wrapped around Callie's waist. "Are you absolutely sure we're alone on this floor apart from Natalie and that no one will come up here?" the blonde asked.

The brunette nodded her head. "Yes. Nobody will come up here unless I call for them. And Natalie will use the elevators on the other side of the building if she's going anywhere so she won't come over here either."

"Then I don't want you to go anywhere" the blonde breathed out as she pulled Callie closer. "Fuck me, Calliope. Please."

Callie leaned forward at those words and captured her girlfriend's luscious lips with her own. She sucked Arizona's bottom lip into her mouth and softly bit down on it eliciting a throaty moan from the blonde. The brunette pulled back. "It'll be my pleasure."

Then she reached down with one hand and started hiking her girlfriend's t-shirt up her smooth torso. She let her hand slowly trail the ivory skin as she did so, and when she reached the blonde's breasts she bent down and sucked a pert nipple through the pastel green bra.

Arizona arched her back instantly. She'd almost forgotten how it felt when Callie paid attention to her body like that. "Calliope" she sighed and couldn't help but whimper. The brunette already made her feel really, really good.

Callie pulled back, sat up and continued to pull the t-shirt up her girlfriend's body with both hands. Arizona lifted her upper body to make it possible for the brunette to take the shirt off. When her back hit the madras again, she reached down and tucked at the hem of Callie's tank top pulling it off the brunette and leaving her girlfriend in her bra as well.

Arizona groaned at the sight. Callie wore a sexy deep red laced bra decorated with black lace. "Oh my God. It should be illegal to look this hot. New bra?" the blonde let out even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah. Do you like it?" Callie shyly asked.

The blonde reached up to palm two perfect breasts. "Like it? I freaking love it, Calliope!" Arizona drew the brunette toward her with her legs and craned her neck to kiss plump lips as her hands started moving on her girlfriend's chest. She let her fingers glide over Callie's nipples and moaned as she felt them harden under her touch.

"I want you out of those jeans. I need to see if this comes with matching panties" Arizona said as she squeezed the bra clad boobs.

Callie moved off her girlfriend and the bed to take off her jeans. As she'd done so, she posed for her girlfriend that lay on the bed with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. "So. Do you like these too?" the brunette asked as she pointed to the panties.

Arizona blinked her eyes a few times. The deep red bra with the black lace came with matching panties. Panties that were see-through. They were red lace on one side and black on the other and Callie looked amazing.

"Turn around" the blonde rasped out. Callie smiled and did as she was told making a small twirl for her girlfriend.

"Shit, you look fantastic" Arizona choked out as the twirl revealed that the panties were a thong that highlighted Callie's perfect butt in the best possible way.

The brunette blushed a little at the raw desire in Arizona's voice. "Thank you."

"Now come here!" the blonde demanded as she gestured for Callie to rejoin her on the bed.

The brunette slowly crawled up the bed giving Arizona a good view of her cleavage. When she reached Arizona's pants she stopped and started undoing them. The blonde groaned. "No! Come here Calliope" she whined.

Callie chuckled. "Patience hot stuff. I'm just going to take these off."

The blonde let Callie undo the button and pull down the zipper. When she started pulling them down the blonde started kicking her legs to make it go faster. The brunette snorted. "In a hurry, are we?"

When the pants were off Arizona reached out for Callie. She grabbed a tanned arm and pulled her girlfriend to her. "No. But you are so fucking hot and if I don't get to kiss of touch you soon I'm going to explode" the blonde stated.

Callie chuckled again and leaned her head close to the blonde's. "Well we don't want that, do we?" Then she covered Arizona's lips with her own. The brunette moaned as she felt Arizona's eager tongue make its way in to her mouth to meet her own. It turned Callie on immensely that she could make the blonde crave touching or kissing her that much.

Ivory hands travelled down a caramel back and found the lining of those unreal thongs. She started pulling and the thongs slowly travelled down tanned thighs. Meanwhile caramel hands had found two ivory mounds that just begged to be touched. Callie pulled back the bra giving her free access to the rigid nipples. She palmed the breasts and let her palms press down on hard tits.

Arizona pulled back panting and in one swift motion she flipped them over so she was now on top of Callie. The blonde stared down at the goddess spread eagle beneath her. Her chest was heaving and her lips were slightly swollen from the kiss. "You are the sexiest and most gorgeous thing I have ever laid my eyes on Calliope."

The brunette smiled up at her lover. Then she started moving her hands again making the blonde moan and close her eyes in pleasure. Callie removed her hands from her girlfriend's breasts and let them travel down to her panties. She started tugging at them signaling that she wanted Arizona to take them off. The blonde shifted to make it possible to remove her panties and at the same time she removed Callie's thong completely. Then she crawled up the brunette's body and lay down on top of her holding herself up by her arms that were placed next to Callie's head.

Pink lips found plump ones and as their tongues dueled for dominance Arizona shifted her body, making their naked abdomens collide. A shiver ran down Callie's body and she arched her back from the sheer pleasure of the feeling. "Fuck Arizona. That feels amazing" the brunette murmured against pink lips.

Arizona moaned in agreement and moved her body again. Their clits brushed against each other and the feeling made the blonde tear her lips from the brunette's. "Shit. I love you Calliope."

"I love you too. Please don't stop" Callie whimpered.

The blonde kept moving and their clits kept brushing up against each other. The brunette writhed beneath the blonde while she moaned and cried out in ecstasy. Callie's hands were clutching the sheets tightly. A sweat was starting to form on Arizona's forehead and she felt the all too familiar tingling start in her lower stomach. "I've missed you so much" the blonde breathed out as she leaned down and rested her forehead against Callie's.

"I've missed you too. You have no idea. Oh my God, keep going Arizona" the brunette said and let go of the sheets to pay attention to her girlfriend's breasts once again.

Callie was panting and the feeling of her breath against Arizona's face all the while caramel hands were fondling her nipples only intensified the feeling of pleasure for the blonde. "Can you come like this?" she asked the brunette with a moan.

"I'm already almost there with you" the brunette breathed out and captured Arizona's lips in a lingering kiss.

The blonde increased the pace and before she knew it her orgasm hit her. Her whole body shook and an explosion of white lights went off behind her closed eyelids. She tore her lips from Callie's. "Fuuuuuck" she cried out as she kept moving her hips.

Underneath her Callie was experiencing equal pleasure. "Arizoooooona" the brunette whimpered as her orgasm hit her like a freight train. She arched her back and pinched pink nipples. She was aware of her girlfriend being in the middle of her own release and she growled as the blonde moaned loudly when she pinched her nipples.

As they both slowly came down from their high Arizona fell limply on top of Callie. The brunette moved to wrap her arms around a naked ivory waist, hugging her girlfriend to her.

Arizona started chuckling against her ear and Callie pushed the blonde slightly away from her to look at her with an amused look. "Why are you laughing?" the brunette asked.

The blonde smiled and reached up to push some brown bangs away from her girlfriend's face. "We are like a couple of horny teenagers. We didn't even take the time to remove each other's bras!"

Callie smiled and shifted so the two of them were lying next to each other on the bed. She turned her head and looked at the blonde. "Well at least I pulled yours down" the brunette said as she reached out and grazed a still stiff, pink nipple.

Arizona closed her eyes at the touch and opened them again to stare in to chocolate brown eyes. "I can't ever get enough of you. And I promise to at least pull your bra down next time" the blonde stated with a smug smile.

The brunette laughed and pulled Arizona to her, so the blonde's head was resting on her chest. As they lay in silence, Callie softly traced her fingers through blonde locks massaging her girlfriends scalp making a series of very content sighs leave pink lips which made Callie smile.

"When do you think we'll be ready to make a public appearance together?" the brunette asked hesitantly.

Arizona twisted and looked at Callie with furrowed brows. "I don't know. You still need to tell your parents and then we'll have to let everyone at 'Heart and Hospital' know. Why?"

Callie shrugged her shoulders. "No reason. I just want to be able to take you out and be able to kiss you whenever I feel like it. And I want to be able to go with you and your family to Hawaii on a vacation like the one you're taking in two weeks. I mean I know that I'm doing the movie and everything, but even if I wasn't, I still wouldn't be able to go with you guys because no one knows about you and me."

The blonde moved up and looked down at Callie. "I know that it's difficult Callie. But I just can't put a date to it. I'm sorry. I know I said that I want to go public and I really mean it. But I can't just go out there with your hand in mine the day after we let everyone at work know. I need to get used to each little step. Telling my parents went great and there's no reason that telling everyone else won't go great, but it still takes time to get used to" Arizona tenderly said.

The brunette looked at the blonde and then she turned her head and looked out the window. "I know. I just really hate that we have to be apart for so long all the time. This time was only 12 days and I've missed you so bad. And now we probably won't see each other again until Teddy and Addison's wedding. And that's a month and a half away Arizona."

Arizona watched as tears rose in those beautiful chocolate eyes. She reached down and made Callie look at her. "Hey. Please don't cry. And I know it sucks Calliope. I miss you too whenever we're apart. But we've got these two whole days together and I don't want to think about parting just yet" the blonde said softly. Then she leaned down and pecked plump lips. "I want to think about how I'm going to make sure you stay naked for the entirety of those two days. And how I'm going to explore just how many times I can make you whimper my name like you did not an hour ago. Because that was sexy as hell. And I want to think about how I'm going to enjoy falling asleep and waking up next to you for the next three nights and mornings before we have to check out from this place."

Callie smiled at the blonde and reached up to caress her cheek. "I'm sorry. You're right. We should enjoy these days together to the fullest."

Then the brunette flipped them over and kissed Arizona. "And I think it's your turn to whimper my name" Callie whispered in an ivory ear before biting down on the blonde's earlobe making Arizona sigh in content.

"I'm up for that too" the blonde breathed out with a smile grazing her face.

 **And that was chapter 28.**

 **Please let me know what you thought of it and leave me lots of reviews!**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	29. Chapter 29

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Happy Olympics and best of luck to all off your countries!:D**

 **I'm so glad to be back and thank you for all of your great and encouraging reviews. And for the kind and loving words in the wake of my break up. It makes me a little happy that you all missed me – I still can't believe the love you all seem to have for my story. Thank you for sticking by it!**

 **To the guest who just read my fic in one go: I'm glad you like it – welcome to the HD &HD universe. And me too, that would have been fun – but I had kind of a busy schedule – the days just went by…I didn't even get to meet up with srock who I knew beforehand lived in KL :/ But if you ever come to Denmark let me know – we can meet up and I'll point out all of the great places to you! ;) That goes for all of you! **

**To the Swedish guest: Glad you like it. And that you think my English is good. As for your request; be patient :P :D**

 **To shyalien: Thank you for your review. Thank you for taking the time to read it. And thank you for calling me great and talented.**

 **To AZsgirl: Yeah I thought about having something like that happen for a second – also considered Carlos like Beachii92 suggested, but then I decided against it just giving them some time to make up :P**

 **To Scampers0213: I'm glad you held off before getting to mad at Arizona – and I'm glad she redeemed herself ;) And I'm happy you read it – like I said I really, really love it…but I'm also glad that mine is still at the top :D**

 **To Sarah: Thank you so much for leaving me a review. And for actually leaving your name when making a guest review :) And I'm happy you loved it even more the second time around – hope you didn't catch too many inconsistencies ;) Thank you for stroking my ego :D**

 **To RunningOnSunshine94: I try to acknowledge some of you in every AN at the beginning of a chapter. I'm glad you like it – I know there are people out there who hate it ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! ;)**

CHAPTER 29:

Callie sighed as the car stopped. She leaned her head back against the headboard and closed her eyes for a second. She was exhausted and it was only noon. The last month had been grueling. Her work with the movie went very well and they were way ahead of schedule meaning that the brunette had gotten to go to Miami two days earlier than planned giving her eight days with her family instead of six before she had to leave for LA to attend Teddy and Addison's wedding.

"Is everything okay Ms. Torres?" The question made her open her eyes and she smiled at the driver.

"Everything is just fine Roberto. I'm just really exhausted" Callie said as she smiled at the driver.

"Well you better perk up, because here comes trouble" the man replied with a smile as the door to the house opened and Rei shot out of it and ran towards the car.

Callie laughed and braced herself. In a matter of seconds her door was yanked open and her little sister appeared. "CA…" Rei stopped in her tracks when she saw her big sister.

"What is it?" Callie asked with a smile.

"You look really, REALLY tired! Are you okay?" the teenager hesitantly asked.

Callie chuckled. "I'm fine. I am tired though so you're not wrong about that. Now come here and give me some love."

Rei smiled and leaned in through the door to hug her big sister. "I'm so glad you're here Callie. I've missed you. And my birthday wouldn't be the same without you here."

The older brunette smiled. "Of course I'm here. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Rei pulled back and let her big sister step out of the car. "I'll get your suitcase" the teenager said before making her way to the trunk.

Callie stepped out and closed her eyes for a second just enjoying the Miami sun on her face. "Welcome home, Big-C." Jael's voice made Callie smiled before she opened her eyes and locked them with her sister's.

"Thank you Jael. It's really good to be here." Then the eldest sister stepped forward and hugged her second youngest sister.

"You look exhausted. Are things with Arizona not going well?" Jael whispered as she hugged her big sister a little tighter.

Callie smiled into Jael's hair. "Things with Arizona are great. She's great."

Jael pulled back. "So the plan is still to tell the rest of the clan?"

"Yeah. Not today though, because I can't even see straight. I just need to kick back and relax. I'll do it tomorrow" Callie let out.

Jael smiled and put an arm around Callie's shoulder. "Aria is coming over in half an hour. I think it might be time for one of the epic 'Torres sisters' movie marathons'. What do you say hermanita, are you in?"

"I'm totally up for that. That sounds really good" Callie breathed out.

"Great" Jael said before turning and looking at Rei, who was carrying Callie's suitcase up the stairs to the porch. "Hey Rei! Got any plans today?"

The teenager turned around and smiled at her sisters. "Of course not. It's Callie's first day home."

"Then we're having a movie marathon in the living room. You are in charge of the pillow forts, I'll get the snacks and Callie can dig out 'Pitch Perfect' and 'Scream' from the DVD rack. Then we should be ready when Aria gets here and we can get started before mama and papi get back here and tell us all to grow up and do something useful with our time" Jael deadpanned.

Callie chuckled at her sister while Rei cheered. "That sounds like a plan" the eldest sister replied lovingly.

* * *

The four sisters were scattered around on the floor of the living room in the Torres house. Rei had moved the couch and coffee table and laid pillows all over the floor creating one big bed. Rei was currently lying with her head resting on Jael's stomach. Jael rested her feet on Callie's back, who lay on her stomach with a bunch of pillows under her head. Aria was lying next to Callie.

'Pitch Perfect' was in full swing and Callie sighed. This was exactly what she needed. A hand on her arm made her turn her attention to Aria.

"Are you okay?" the second oldest woman quietly asked with concern.

Callie smiled. "I'm fine. I'm just really tired."

Aria shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. I get that and I can tell. But it seems like something else is on your mind. And I've been thinking about it for quite some time now. You can tell me if something is bothering you" the younger brunette said as she brushed her hand up and down her sister's arm.

"I know Aria" Callie said with a small smile. "And you know me too well. I've got something I need to talk to all of you about. But I'm not doing that until tomorrow. It's not bad though, so you shouldn't worry. I just don't have the energy in me to do it today. Today I just want to enjoy hanging out with all of my awesome sisters without having to deal with anything else. Is that okay?" Callie asked her sister with hesitance.

Aria smiled. "Of course it's okay Callie. I was just worried about you. But if you say it's nothing bad, then I believe you."

"It's not bad at all. Actually it's very, very good. God Aria it's amazing" Callie said as she smiled really big.

"I can't wait to hear all about it then" Aria said and squeezed Callie's arm before turning her attention back to the movie.

* * *

Callie sat nervously in front of her family. They had just finished a family breakfast and Callie had announced that she'd like to tell them something. She had Aria and Jael on either side of her. Rei was sitting at the end of the table and her parents were sitting across from her. Callie fiddled nervously with her hands until Jael reached over and stopped her by placing her hand on Callie's. The eldest Torres looked at her sister who smiled compassionately. "It's going to be okay. I'm going to hold your hand. And you're going to tell them" Jael softly whispered.

Carlos looked at his eldest daughter with concern. He'd never seen her be this nervous before. Not when he caught her stealing candy from Aria's stash when she was eight and not when she got caught sneaking out of her room for the first time when she was 14. Not even on her wedding day with Mark or for her first Broadway appearance. "Whatever it is Hermosa, you can tell us" he tenderly said and smiled at Callie.

Callie closed her eyes for a second before opening them again and looking into the loving gazes of her parents. They loved her. She was their daughter. She knew them. There was no way they'd take the news of her being completely and utterly in love as a bad thing.

"I'm dating someone" Callie said and averted her gaze to the table in front of her.

"Oooookay" Lucia drew out and tried to catch her daughter's eye. "I'm getting a feeling that's not all there is to this story though" the Torres matriarch tenderly added with a smile.

Callie looked up and into her mother's eyes. Tears started gathering as she shook her head. "No it's not."

Lucia reached across the table and grabbed her daughter's free hand. "You can tell us anything mija. What is it with this guy?"

Callie closed her eyes at her mother's words and as she opened them again she turned her head towards Jael who smiled knowingly at her. "Tell them hermanita."

Callie looked at her mother again and couldn't help but smile as she spoke. "That's the thing mama. It's not a guy. I'm dating Arizona Robbins."

Complete silence fell upon the room and only the ticking of the big dark wood clock that stood in the corner could be heard.

"I'm sorry did you just say that you're dating Ms. Arizona Robbins; the blonde woman who also plays a doctor on 'Heart and Hospital'?" Carlos asked his daughter as he furrowed his brows.

Callie looked at her father's brown eyes and nodded her head. "Yes. And I actually have been for some time. We just recently agreed on telling our families. I'm…" the eldest Torres sister drew in a breath and exhaled loudly before continuing. "I'm so madly and irreversible in love with her. She's wonderful and good to me and I think you'll all really like her" Callie said.

Silence once again filled the room. Callie looked at Jael who smiled reassuringly at her and squeezed her hand. Her other hand was still held by her mother who just sat there staring at Callie.

"Please be okay with it mama and papi. The thought of having to choose between her and my family kills me" Callie choked out and looked back at her parents as a single tear slipped from chocolate brown eyes and slid down a caramel cheek.

And then her parents' faces broke into small, understanding smiles. Lucia squeezed Callie's hand. "Of course we're okay with this mija. We want you to be happy. I just have to say, that I'm so very surprised. Had it been Jael it wouldn't have surprised me at all, but I never pictured you bringing home a girl Calliope" Jael whipped her head up at those words and looked at her mother with her mouth agape. "Oh please mi pequeña cabra (my little goat) you've always been the wild child of this bunch" Lucia said as she smiled at her second youngest daughter.

Then the mother turned her attention back to Callie. "We love you. And if being with Arizona makes you happy, then that woman is welcomed into this family with open arms. Exactly like Mark was ten years ago."

Carlos smiled at his daughter and spoke up. "I couldn't agree more Hermosa. As a father the greatest thing in the world is seeing his children find that someone that they don't want to live without. And I'd never ever make any of you choose between us and love. I hope you alle know that." Then he furrowed his brows for a second. "I'm a little confused though. I could have sworn I'd read something about her and Mark possibly dating."

"Yeah. That wasn't true though" Callie said as she shook her head. "They just went out for dinner."

The whole family was startled as Rei squealed at the end of the table. "This is AWESOME Callie!"

"If you're already picturing Instagram posts in your head then I'm going to have to disappoint you. We're far off from that happening" Callie said with a small smile and a chuckle. The brunette felt all kinds of relief that her family had accepted this so easy. The nerves she'd felt slowly disappeared as she looked at her smiling parents.

Rei pouted a little and then she smiled. "Okay, maybe I was thinking about that for like a second. Buuuut I also think it's awesome because she seems so nice. And she's very pretty. Good job Callie!" the youngest sister said with a wink at her big sister.

The smile on Callie's face grew. "She's beautiful."

Lucia looked at her daughter with tenderness. She was obviously very fond of this woman. And Lucia felt her heart burst in gratitude from the fact that her eldest daughter seemed to finally be truly happy again. "We can't wait to meet her mija."

Callie looked towards her mother and sent her a dazzling smile.

"You're seriously accepting this just like that?" Aria questioned as she looked disbelieving at her parents and sisters.

Callie's breath caught in her throat as she slowly turned her head to look at Aria. Her brows were furrowed in question and her face showed clear traces of anger and incomprehensibility. Callie couldn't believe it. She'd been so caught up in the joy of her parents accepting this that she hadn't even noticed that Aria had been deadly quiet. Until now.

"Aria…" Jael started as she watched tears very quickly fill her eldest sister's eyes.

Aria turned towards Jael. "And you! I can't believe you've kept her dirty little secret. How long have you known?" The second eldest Torres sister flicked her gaze between Callie and Jael. "I thought I knew you guys. I've looked up to you my whole life Callie. And not once have you disappointed me. Until this very second. You were married to Mark Sloan! Is that why he left you? Because you liked going down on your female co-stars whenever the opportunity presented itself?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH ARIA!" Carlos Torres roared as he stood up. The chair tumbled to the floor behind him and the room went quiet instantly.

Callie locked eyes with Aria and for just a second she thought she saw a hint of acceptance in her sister's eyes. But then they turned hard again. "This is not how it was supposed to go Callie. And you know that as well as me."

"Aria please" Callie choked out as tears trickled down her cheeks. "I know it's a big upheaval. And I understand if it takes time to adjust to it. But I'm still me. I'm exactly the same person I've always been. I'm the same big sister I've always been to you."

Aria shook her head. "No you're not. You're not even close to being the person or the big sister I thought you were."

"Leave." The seriousness and contempt in the Torres patriarch's voice made Aria and Callie turn their attention to Carlos who stared at Aria with pain and anger in his eyes. "Leave" he said again as he pointed to the hall.

Aria stared back at her father in disbelief. "Are you serious, papi? You're throwing me out?"

Carlos nodded his head. "Yes. For now at least. I don't know how you became someone who reacts this way to your sister having a girlfriend. And I have to say that I'm really surprised and disappointed in you Aria. I for one know I didn't raise you like that. This is hard enough for Callie as it is without you judging her. And the rest of us can't wait to hear more about Ms. Robbins. So right now I need you to leave this house" he finished with a stern voice.

Aria stared at her dad who just stared back at her. They held each other's gaze for a while before Aria looked down before switching to look at her big sister one last time before turning on her heel and making her way out the house with a slamming of the door.

Callie broke down in a loud sob and covered her face with her hands as she rested her elbows on the table. Jael instantly pushed her chair closer to her sister's and put her arm around her back caressing it softly. "It's going to be okay, Big-C" she comfortably said.

The eldest Torres sister removed her head from her hands and stared at Jael. "HOW is it going to be okay Jael?"

Lucia Torres rose from her seat and made her way to her distraught daughter. She turned her chair and looked at Callie with a comforting smile. "She'll come around mija."

"And what if she doesn't mama, huh? What's going to happen then? How is this family going to work? Just by being in love I've managed to tear this family apart" Callie stated as she shook her head.

This made Carlos Torres leave his seat and move to his eldest daughter as well. Lucia moved out of the way and Carlos engulfed his daughter in a big hug. "You haven't torn anything apart hermosa. This is not your fault. And I know you Calliope. Which means I know you're sitting here right now questioning whether or not you should have said something in the first place or started a relationship with Arizona at all. And you have to stop that. Because if she makes your eyes sparkle like they did when you told us about her then she's the right person for you to be with" Carlos softly said as he gave his daughter a loving squeeze.

"I'm so sorry papi. I'd never thought she'd…" Callie's voice betrayed her as it cracked and cut her sentence short.

Carlos pulled back and cupped Callie's cheeks. "Don't be Calliope. And I'm as surprised as you. I'll talk to her about it later. But right now I really want to hear more about this woman of yours."

Callie smiled a little at her father. Everything would be okay. Aria would come around and then things would go back to normal.

* * *

It had been two days since Callie had revealed to her family that she was dating Arizona. And Aria had not come around. In fact she'd opted to go completely off the grid. Callie didn't even know if her father had come across Aria at the office. The brunette had been texting and calling her sister nonstop pleading with her to just talk to Callie. But she still hadn't heard anything back.

Callie's heart was broken. Her sister, one of the most important people in her life, had cut her off because she couldn't deal with the fact that Callie was now dating a woman. She hadn't even wanted to hear anything about Arizona.

Arizona. Her wonderful, amazing, perfect Arizona. Callie felt a tear run down her cheek as she thought of the blonde. These past days had made Callie feel so conflicted. She loved Arizona. She'd never loved anyone the way she loved Arizona. But she'd known Aria for 26 years. And even though her and Aria often didn't spend that much time together, then Aria was by far the one of her sisters that Callie had the most contact with on a daily basis. They were so alike in so many ways which made them rely on each other in a number of situations. And it had taken Callie completely by surprise that Aria had taken the news about Arizona the way she did.

The brunette sighed. Arizona had spent the past two weeks in Hawaii with her family. Callie hadn't let the blonde know what had happened yet. Arizona had texted her multiple times a day but the brunette had just told her that it was nice being in Miami again and that she hadn't told her family yet. That she'd wait until after Rei's birthday to do it as to not steal the attention from her nearly 15 year old sister.

It was six AM and Callie was sitting in the living room on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest while reruns of 'Modern Family' played out on the screen. Jael and Rei were standing in the kitchen watching her. "I hate that she's so sad" Rei softly said and looked up at her youngest big sister.

Jael pulled Rei to her and the young girl put her arms around her sister's waist. "I know, Rei. Me too."

Rei sighed. "I wish we could do something to make her feel better. Nothing any of us are saying is working."

Jael smiled at her little sister's thoughtfulness. "Actually I know what would probably help her. Do you know the password to her phone?" the older Torres asked.

Rei chuckled. "Do you really need to ask that?"

* * *

Four hours later Jael stood nervously at the airport. This was the very last option. If this didn't work, then she didn't know what to do. She spotted the person she was looking for and moved towards her. "Arizona?" she asked hesitantly.

Arizona whipped her head around, put her sunglasses in top of her head and looked straight into a face that looked so much like her girlfriend's yet were so different. "Yes" the blonde answered with a smile.

Jael returned the smile and put her hand out for Arizona to shake. "I'm Jael. It's so good to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"Likewise" Arizona answered. Then her smile faltered a little. "How is she?"

Jael's face turned serious as well and she granted the blonde a small smile. "I don't know to be honest. She's sad, obviously. I doubt that she's sleeping very much and she doesn't eat or talk to anyone. Not even our father." Then the young brunette reached out and squeezed an ivory arm. "But I really hope that's about to change."

Arizona smiled. "Me too. I can't believe she didn't tell me what had happened. I didn't even notice anything from her texts."

Jael watched as a wave of sadness washed over Arizona's face. "It's not your fault. She's just really stubborn. You're here now and that's what matters."

"I don't know if I really believe that. But it'll have to do" the blonde let out.

"Come on. Let's go see her" Jael finished before leading Arizona out of the airport and towards the car.

* * *

"Big-C?" Jael called out as she entered the house with Arizona trailing behind her. The blonde's eyes went wide at the sight of the hallway. She'd gasped loudly at the size of the house which had made Jael laugh loudly in the car. And the inside looked exactly like Arizona had imagined. It screamed wealth. And Arizona suddenly felt very inadequate. The blonde shook her head. Now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Rei?" Jael called out when she didn't receive an answer the first time. Arizona followed Jael through the house until they reached a set of French doors. On the other side of the doors the blonde could see her girlfriend sitting on a couch with her head resting on her knees that was pulled close to her chest. A younger version of Callie sat beside her with an arm around her shoulder. Both of their attentions were turned to the TV.

Jael opened the doors and stepped in the room. Arizona followed her silently never taking her eyes off her girlfriend. "There you are. Why didn't you guys answer?" Jael asked.

The young girl looked up and smiled at the sight of Arizona. The resemblance to Callie was striking and Arizona couldn't help but smile back at the girl. That had to be Rei.

"There's someone here to see you, Big-C" Jael tenderly said and for the first time Callie acknowledged her sister's existence and turned her head. She opened her mouth to say something but immediately stopped as her eyes fell upon Arizona.

Deep chocolate brown eyes filled with pain and tears in an instant. "Arizona" Callie whimpered out before breaking in to loud sobs.

Arizona quickly made her way to her crying girlfriend. Rei shot up from her seat making room for the blonde. Arizona sent her a grateful smile in return. The blonde sat down and pulled Callie to her. The brunette buried her head in the crook of her girlfriend's neck as sobs wrenched through her body. The tears kept coming and Arizona felt absolutely useless.

The blonde kissed the top of her girlfriend's head as she felt tears gather in her own eyes. "Shhh, it's going to be okay Calliope. We'll sort it out. Please stop crying. I love you" Arizona rambled as she stroked the brunette's back.

"I..don't…know…what…to…do" Callie hiccupped against her girlfriend's neck. "She…won't..return…any…of…my…texts…or…calls."

Arizona pulled back and cupped both of the brunette's cheeks. "You need to breathe Callie. Please."

The brunette slowly inhaled and exhaled and her hiccups slowed. She looked so broken and Arizona couldn't help herself as she leaned in and kissed Callie's forehead. "I'm so sorry about this. So sorry."

The brunette shifted and once again buried her face in Arizona's neck as silent tears streamed down caramel cheeks. The blonde had no idea how long they sat like that. Jael and Rei just stood at the door watching and Arizona had seen Jael wipe away a few tears with the back of her hand more than once. Rei had grabbed her big sister's hand for support and comfort.

Suddenly a voice at the door interrupted the silence. "Hola mijas. Why are you standing here?" a woman asked the two sisters by the door. Jael let go of Rei's hand and moved to the side making an older couple appear in Arizona's line of sight.

The woman gasped and put her hand on her chest as her eyes brimmed with tears and relief and the man smiled a bit sadly at Arizona. Then he slowly moved forward and rested his left hand on the back of the couch. He reached his right out towards the blonde. "You must be Arizona" he softly stated.

Arizona reached out and shook his hand. "I am sir."

Carlos reached up with his left hand and engulfed the blonde's hand completely between his own. "I'm Carlos Torres. Welcome to our home. It's a pleasure to meet you and I'm really glad you're here."

"Thank you sir. It's a pleasure to meet you too" the blonde replied and smiled at her girlfriend's father. The woman moved forward and reached out her hand "I'm Lucia. And I would have hugged you if you weren't already occupied so you'll have to settle with a handshake for now. Thank you so much for coming Arizona" the woman said with eyes filled with gratitude.

"You're very welcome" the blonde replied with a smile.

Callie shifted and pulled back a little to look up at her girlfriend. "How are you even here? Didn't you just get back from Hawaii?" the brunette asked with confusion.

Arizona smiled at the brunette. "Yeah. We got back to Little Creek last night. And then this morning Jael called me and told me what had happened. I took the first flight out here." The blonde softly stroked a caramel cheek with the back of her hand. "You should have called me Calliope. Why didn't you call me?"

Tears gathered in chocolate brown eyes once again. "I didn't want to bother you. You were enjoying a much needed vacation with your family. Who were all really nice and awesome about all of this. You guys deserved some undisrupted time together. I didn't want to ruin your vacation."

The blonde sighed and pulled Callie close to her wrapping her arms tightly around the brunette's back again. "Calliope, you could never bother me or ruin anything. I love you" Arizona said with a crack to her voice. "I'll always want to be here for you. I can't stand the thought of you hurting."

Callie sighed. "I'm so happy you're here!" Then she turned her head and looked at her sister. "Thank you Jael. You're the best."

Jael sent her big sister a small smile. "You're welcome. And even though I was kind of scared you'd rip me a new one for doing this I was at my wits end hermanita. I didn't know what else to do. And you should know that I didn't work alone" Jael smiled and pulled Rei close to her. "This one helped. Thank God she's spied the passwords to all of our phones."

Callie chuckled a little and smiled at her youngest sister. "Thank you Rei. You're the best too."

Tears welled in the young girl's brown eyes as Rei looked at her sister. "I hate when some of you guys are fighting. And I don't like it when you're sad, Callie."

The eldest sister pulled herself away from Arizona and gestured for her youngest sister to come over. Rei moved and sat down on Callie's lap. The eldest brunette put her arms around her youngest sister and pulled her close. "I'm sorry that this is such a mess Rei. That I am such a mess. And I can leave if you don't want me here for your birthday. Then you can celebrate with mama, papi, Jael and Aria like you were supposed to and you and I can celebrate some other time" Callie offered.

Rei shook her head against her sister's shoulder. "No. I don't want to do that. I want you here. And Arizona can stay too" the youngest Torres offered.

Arizona smiled at the girl. "I'd love to. I mean if it's okay with the rest of your family. When is your birthday?"

Rei smiled back. "The day after tomorrow. On the 24th" the young girl replied as something in her eyes somehow changed. Then she moved off Callie again. "I'm going to my room. Nice to meet you Arizona" Rei sad before leaving her seat on her sister's lap and moving out the room and towards the stairs.

Callie sighed and drew her hands through her hair. Then she rested her head in her hands before looking up at her parents with tears in her eyes. "She's going to have the worst birthday ever because of me."

"Wrong! She's going to have the worst birthday ever because Aria is an idiot!" Jael chipped in.

"Hey" Carlos said as he gave his second youngest daughter a pointed look. Then he turned his attention to Callie. "She's not going to have the worst birthday ever hermosa. We'll make sure of that. Don't blame yourself."

Lucia smiled. "Listen to your father, mija." Then she grabbed Carlos' hand and looked at Jael. "We'll leave you two alone for a bit. Give you a chance to catch up. Can I get you anything? Water, coffee, juice, food?" the Torres matriarch asked the two women on the couch.

"I would really love something to eat. I'm starving" Callie replied. "And Arizona would like a latté. Are you hungry?" the brunette asked and turned to look at her girlfriend.

Arizona smiled at Callie and then looked at Lucia. "A latté sounds really good. And no, I'm not hungry. Thank you Lucia."

Then Lucia, Carlos and Jael left the room leaving Callie and Arizona alone in the living room. The blonde opened her arms and the brunette smiled a little before leaning in and resting against her girlfriend. Callie inhaled the scent of Arizona and sighed. "How was Hawaii?"

"Great" the blonde answered softly. "You were missed. Mom, dad, Tim and Amanda babbled on and on about you. Sometimes I thought they'd rather have had you there and me shooting a movie in Las Vegas" the blonde said.

The brunette chuckled at that. "I really wish you'd called me Callie." This made the brunette stop her chuckling and she turned her head to look at her girlfriend's mesmerizing blue orbs.

"I would have eventually Arizona. I just wanted you to get to enjoy the last of your vacation without my drama cutting your vacation short. I knew that you'd want to come here the second I told you" Callie said.

Arizona leaned in and rested her head against her girlfriend's. Then she leaned down and kissed plump lips lovingly. "Of course I would've wanted to come here. I'm the reason this drama even exists. You shouldn't be this sad for days before calling me. I don't know Jael, but it was very clear that she was extremely worried about you. She almost cried while talking to me, a total stranger, on the phone Callie" the blonde tenderly breathed out.

The brunette sighed. "I know. They were all really worried. I don't think my parents have ever been that happy to see either of our boyfriends for the first time as they were when they walked in and you were here."

The blonde locked eyes with her girlfriend. "I'm so sorry this happened Callie."

The brunette felt tears brim her eyes again. "I wasn't even worried about her not accepting this Arizona. I've known her for her whole life and never in a million years did I think she'd have a problem with me being with you. I replay it over and over in my head and I just don't get it" Callie choked out. "My relationship with you kind of forced my dad to throw one of his daughters out of his house and now Rei has to celebrate her birthday without one of her sisters. It's all really messed up and I don't know what to do" the brunette said resignedly as she blinked back the tears in her eyes.

Arizona once again rested her forehead against Callie's. "I wish there was something I could do to make it better, Calliope."

"You're here" the brunette whispered "that's already making it better." Then Callie moved to capture pink lips. At first their lips barely touched but then Callie pressed her lips a little harder against Arizona's. The blonde let the brunette set the pace. She would do anything to make sure the brunette felt safe and loved. Arizona parted her lips when an insistent tongue begged for entrance.

Callie whimpered as her tongue found Arizona's. She felt guilty that she even for a second questioned whether or not her relationship with the blonde was worth all these troubles. Her heart was still really conflicted and she loved her sister with her entire being. But she loved Arizona with her entire being too. And the blonde was not to blame for this in any way.

At the sound of the doors opening the two of them parted and a smiling Lucia approached the coffee table with a tray in her hand. "I didn't know what you wanted mija. I've made you a tortilla wrap with chicken, tomatoes, peppers and guacamole. If you want something else I can get you that. Here's your latté Arizona" Lucia said as she handed the blonde a cup.

Arizona smiled gratefully at Lucia and Callie sat up and looked at her mother. "Thank you mama. It looks delicious."

Lucia reached out and caressed her daughter's cheek. "Just shout if you're more hungry. I'm really happy you're eating again mija." Then she leaned down and placed a kiss on top of brown locks before she left the living room again.

The brunette took a bite of her food and the satisfied moan that left her mouth made Arizona smile. "What?" Callie asked with her mouth full of food.

"Nothing" the blonde replied while she shook her head and sipped her coffee.

* * *

An hour and a half later Arizona was sitting on the couch stroking brown locks. Callie was asleep with her head in the blonde's lap and the blonde's heart broke at the sight. Even while she slept you could see the pure and unadulterated misery seep from the brunette's features.

Arizona sighed and slowly removed herself from underneath her girlfriend. She bent down and kissed a caramel cheek softly. "I love you Calliope" she whispered before making her way to the door.

The blonde could hear voices as she closed the French doors behind her and walked towards the sound. Lucia and Jael both looked up as the blonde entered the kitchen. "Arizona, hi. Do you need anything? Are you hungry?" Lucia asked with a smile.

Arizona shook her head. "No, thank you though."

"Where's Callie?" Jael questioned as she looked behind the blonde.

"She's sleeping on the couch." Arizona answered with a smile.

Lucia moved around the giant cooking island and hugged the blonde tightly. "Thank you for coming here for her Arizona" the eldest Torres woman said and swallowed audibly.

Arizona hugged Lucia back. "Of course. And I would have come sooner if I'd known" the blonde sincerely said.

Lucia released the blonde and smiled. "I don't doubt that for a second. Is there anything we can do for you?"

The blonde smiled and looked at Jael. "Actually I was wondering if maybe I could take a shower and loan some clothes from you Jael? I think we're about the same size and I left Georgia with only my phone and purse this morning. I didn't even shower and I feel disgusting."

Jael smiled at her big sister's girlfriend. "Of course. I've got something that'll fit you for sure. Let me just go and get it and then you can shower in Callie's room."

With that Jael disappeared out the kitchen and Arizona could hear footsteps on a staircase. The blonde turned her attention to Lucia who was staring at her. The blonde smiled and felt a little awkward under the intense stare.

"Do you know how many boyfriends Callie has brought home with her?" Lucia asked.

Arizona furrowed her brows in confusion. "No?" she cautiously answered.

"Eight!" Lucia stated with a smile. "Seven before she turned twenty." The brunette laughed as Arizona's eyes widened.

"I know. She was very busy exploring the opposite sex as a teenager" Lucia said with a grin. Then her face turned serious. "Then when she was twenty she brought Mark home. And I didn't doubt for one second that this guy was special to her. She looked at him differently. She talked about him differently."

Arizona cringed a little as she listened to her girlfriend's mother recount Callie's relationship with Mark. Lucia chuckled before reaching out and grabbing Arizona's hand. "And then I came home today and found her clinging to you on the couch like a hole would swallow you right then and there if she let go. And while she still looked so unbelievably sad I've never seen her look so at peace Arizona. You ground her in a way that nobody has ever done before. And I would have reached out to you myself if I'd known it only took your presence to get her to eat or fall asleep on the couch. I know I said it already, but thank you Arizona. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving my daughter. You're obviously very, very special to her."

The blonde smiled at her girlfriend's mother. "She grounds me too Lucia. And I can't imagine I'll ever stop loving her. She's the most amazing, caring and compassionate person I've ever met."

Lucia squeezed an ivory hand and pulled back just as Jael entered the kitchen. "Here you go Arizona. I've picked out a few different things for you to choose from. And I've put towels in Callie's bathroom. Her room is upstairs and the third door on the right."

Arizona gratefully took the clothes. "Thank you Jael. Excuse me" the blonde said and smiled at the two Torres women in the kitchen before walking towards the stairs. She slowly ascended the stairs as she took in her surroundings. This house was a mansion and when she reached the top of the stairs she had a perfect view of the hall from above. It was beautiful. "Wow" she whispered to herself.

A sound from the first room on the left made her turn her attention towards the closed door. It was covered with photographs. Even from a distance the blonde could spot some of Callie and Rei, some of Lucia, Carlos and Rei a goofy headshot of Jael and some photos of Jael and a young woman Arizona assumed was Aria. One photograph was obviously missing in the middle of it all.

When what sounded like a sob came through the door Arizona slowly approached it. She knocked on the door once. "Rei?" she softly asked.

The blonde could hear movement from inside the room and waited for the door to open. But that never happened. Arizona knocked again. "Rei? It's Arizona" the blonde tried.

Then footsteps came closer and closer and at last the door was torn open. A clearly crying Rei stood on the other side. "What do you want?" the teenager asked.

Arizona smiled sadly at Rei. "I just want to know if you are okay. I know this is a mess and I get if you don't feel like you can really talk to your parents or your sisters about this. But I want you to know that you can talk to me. If you want" the blonde shrugged her shoulders and smiled compassionately at the teenager.

Rei shook her head. "No I can't. You'll just tell Callie."

The blonde smiled. "I won't Rei. I promise. I don't have to tell her everything. She'll understand that I don't."

The teenager looked at Arizona thoughtfully for a few seconds before moving away from the door allowing Arizona to enter. Rei closed the door behind them and walked over to her bed where she picked up a photograph before she sat down cross legged on top of her duvets. She looked at the photograph lovingly before handing it to the blonde wordlessly.

Arizona took the photograph from Rei and looked at it. She smiled instantly. It showed Callie and the young woman she assumed was Aria wearing silly hats and making faces while laughing at each other. They both looked like they really had fun. "It's from New Year's Eve. Before they went out with Jael" Rei softly said.

The blonde handed the photograph back to the teenager, who took it and locked her eyes on the image before her. "Aria and Callie have ALWAYS been on the same page. I can't remember one time where they disagreed on something big. I know it's always been a little hard on Jael because her mind seems to work in a different way than theirs. She's often been in an epic fight with either Callie or Aria. But the two of them have never ever fought for real before" Rei reached up and dried away a tear that ran down her cheek.

"I love Callie. She's the best big sister anyone could ever ask for and she'd walk through fire for Aria, Jael or me. But I can't help but be just a little mad at her for doing this now. And I know she offered to leave but no matter what it'll still be up to me. I still have to choose between my big sisters for my birthday. And I love Aria too Arizona. She might not be Callie but she's the one I call when I struggle in math or when I need advice on which subject to focus on in school. She's really great" the teenager choked out before looking to her lap and starting to sob loudly.

Arizona sat down next to Rei on the bed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know you love both of them Rei. And choosing is impossible. I'm so unbelievably sorry that my relationship with Callie is causing all of this to happen to you."

The teenager just shook her head. "You're clearly good and respectful to her. And I'm really grateful for that. I just wish that things would go back to normal."

The blonde smiled knowingly at Rei. "I know. And believe me when I say that Callie wishes for that too."

Rei looked up at Arizona. "Where is she anyway?"

The blonde smiled at her girlfriend's youngest sister. "She's sleeping downstairs on the couch. I actually came up here to shower while she slept."

"It's good for her that you're here Arizona. It's the first time ever that one of us isn't enough. It's why we didn't really know what to do" Rei explained and smiled a little. "I mean she was upset last summer with the whole Mark thing. But not like this. Back then we could make her smile a little and maybe even persuade her to hang out with us. But this time she's just been sitting silently on the couch for the past two days."

The blonde returned the smile. "I'm glad you called me." Then Arizona squeezed Rei's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay Rei?"

The teenager looked at Arizona. "Yeah. I just need some time I think. And Aria isn't answering my texts or anything. I don't like that. Because I don't even know if anyone has been in contact with her these past days. I guess my father has talked to her at the company but I'm not sure" Rei said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Arizona reached out and pulled the young girl in for a hug. "You're a really great sister Rei. I'm sure she'll text you back at some point. Maybe she just needs some time too. But you're not part of this. You haven't done anything to make her not want to talk to you. She'll reach out to you at some point."

Rei sighed. "I hope you're right." Then the brunette reached out for her phone on the nightstand. "Can I take a picture of us? I won't post it anywhere I promise. But it's been nice to talk to you and I'd just like a memory of your first time here with us. I know it sounds ridiculous given the circumstances but I just…I don't know… I like you."

The blonde smiled at her. "Of course. And I like you too Rei. I don't feel very attractive right now though."

Rei chuckled. "You look fine. Plus I'm sure my eyes are all red and puffy so I'll put up a great battle for least attractive."

Arizona laughed and put her arm around the teenager's shoulder. "Well then let's get it over with."

Rei smiled and turned on her front camera putting the phone up in front of them. They smiled and the teenager snapped a picture. Then she put her phone back on the nightstand. "Thank you Arizona. For coming here and checking up on me. I can see why Callie loves you."

The blonde tugged Rei close to her one last time before letting go. "You're welcome. And you can talk to me anytime."

Then Arizona stood up and moved to the door. "It's going to be okay Rei. Everything will work itself out eventually."

Rei smiled sadly at the blonde. "I really, really hope you're right Arizona."

Then the blonde turned and walked out the room. "I really hope so too" she whispered to herself as she made her way towards Callie's room.

* * *

Freshly showered and in a pair of Jael's shorts and a t-shirt with the Torres' hotel logo Arizona descended the stairs and made her way back to the kitchen. As she got there Callie was sitting in the kitchen staring down a cup of coffee while her mom and Jael were cutting some vegetables and chatting.

"Hey, you're awake" the blonde stated as she made her way to Callie. The brunette instantly put her arms around Arizona's waist and pulled the blonde close. She rested her head against Arizona's stomach and closed her eyes.

"Why are you wearing this?" the brunette mumbled with her head buried against the blonde.

Arizona smiled and stroked Callie's hair. "I kind of forgot to bring anything with me so Jael kindly loaned me some of her clothes."

The brunette looked up at her girlfriend. "How does one forget to bring anything?"

The blonde chuckled. "Well when one is very worried about her girlfriend because said girlfriend's sister sounded very desperate on the phone then one can't really think of anything else but getting to her girlfriend as fast as possible."

Callie smiled a little. Then she turned her head and rested it against the blonde's abdomen again. "I'm so happy you're here Arizona. I know I said so earlier but I'm really, really happy you're here."

The blonde stroked brown locks softly. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be Calliope."

The brunette sighed. "I can't believe this has gotten so messed up. I wonder how Rei is holding up. I know she's sad and probably blaming me for ruining her birthday even though she'd never tell me that."

Arizona leaned down and kissed the top of Callie's head. "She's going to need some time to digest all of this and she's sad, but she'll be okay."

The brunette pulled back from Arizona and stared up at her as Jael and Lucia both put down their knives and turned their attention to the blonde. "You talked to her?" Callie asked.

"Yeeees" Arizona hesitantly drew out as she looked at the three Torres women all staring at her.

"When? How?" Jael asked in disbelief.

Arizona felt a little nervous. She had no idea why the Torres' women were so surprised at that. "Before I showered. I heard her shuffle around in her room as I walked past. So I knocked on the door."

"And she let you in?" Lucia asked surprised.

"Well, I had to knock a second time, but yeah she did" the blonde gently said.

Jael stood there with her mouth agape and Lucia smiled at Arizona. "Hmm, that's weird" Callie let out. "She usually never let anyone in when she's sad or mad."

"I tried getting in there not five minutes before you walked up there" Jael let out with a huff.

Arizona smiled at Jael. "I think she just needed to talk to someone non-Torres to be honest. It's a lot for her to deal with. She's got these three amazing big sisters and now one of them is suddenly missing from the family. That has to be tough. I'm the only one who isn't really a part of this family."

"Of course you're a part of this family" Callie stated a little hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that Calliope. I feel very welcome here. But I've never been here for Christmas when the four of you are sitting next to each other on the floor opening presents. Or for birthdays when I'm sure the three other sister doesn't hesitate to crawl into bed with the one celebrating it for breakfast and presents in bed" Arizona tenderly said while she stroked Callie's cheek.

"For someone that hasn't been here that was awfully spot on" Jael said with a smug smile.

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "I might've peeked in one of Callie's photo albums one day while she was in the shower."

The blonde shrieked as Callie pinched her side. "Don't go through my stuff!" the brunette said with a small smile to let her girlfriend know she was partially joking.

"I got bored. You take forever in the bathroom!" the blonde defended herself.

Callie released Arizona and stood up. "I' don't take forever in the bathroom. And I'm going to go prove it right now!" The brunette then turned to look at her mother and sister. "Don't let her rummage through anything while I'm away."

Arizona smiled. "Then don't take forever!"

Callie turned her attention back to the blonde reached out for her smiling girlfriend. "I won't" she softly said before leaning down and pecking pink lips. "Thank you for being absolutely amazing."

Then the brunette made her way out the kitchen and up the stairs.

* * *

Arizona was standing on the back porch at the Torres house, or maybe mansion was a more correct term, looking out at the pool area. Callie was still in the shower and after Lucia had thanked Arizona for not only paying attention to Callie but also Rei, Arizona had excused herself to get some air and clear her thoughts.

Talking to the teenager had broken Arizona's heart. Rei was very obviously distressed about the whole thing and Arizona desperately wanted to make things easier for the girl.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Jael appeared next to her. "Digesting it all, huh?" the brunette asked and offered Arizona a small smile.

"Yeah" Arizona sighed. Then she turned her body towards Jael. "Do you know if anyone has talked to Aria since she left?"

The brunette looked from Arizona to the pool. "She doesn't want to talk to anyone. Our father tried talking to her at the office but she refuses to talk to him about anything that's not work related. And that just pisses him off so I'm pretty sure he's not even trying anymore. I've texted her and called her. Rei has texted her and called her. My mom has texted her and called her. But she's still ignoring all of us" Jael dejectedly said.

Arizona studied the woman next to her. When Arizona got here she'd been so worried about Callie that her mind didn't register anything other than getting to her. But looking at Jael now Arizona could tell that the second youngest Torres was clearly sad and agitated. And she looked unbelievable tired.

"How are you holding up Jael?" Arizona softly asked.

The brunette turned her head and smiled a little at the blonde. "Better now that you've gotten Callie of the couch. But that doesn't mean I don't worry about Aria. When she left two days ago she didn't just leave Callie behind. She left all of us behind. And I know my dad asked her to leave but I had kind of hoped that she'd at least keep in touch with me or Rei. I get that we kind of chose Callie by staying and not going after her, but we shouldn't have to choose. And the weird thing is that Aria was the only one I told the first time I kissed a woman. And she didn't even blink. Then Callie admits to being in a relationship with you and she freaks out. I don't get it" the brunette stated with furrowed brows.

The blonde put a hand on the small of Jael's back. "I'm really sorry about this, Jael. And I know that this isn't really my or Callie's fault but I'm still very sorry. This affects your whole family and I understand that all of you are struggling with this. And know that I won't be offended if you guys want me to leave. I would understand if you didn't need me to stand on the side watching as you guys try to process and handle all of this as a family."

Jael smiled a little at Arizona as a tear slipped from her eye. "You should stay. It seems like you're the one pulling all of us together. And I'm sorry you have to do that. That your first visit with us is like this. It should be fun and full of stories about Callie. She'll never forgive us if we mess this up and you'll never want to come back here again."

The blonde smiled. "Don't worry about that. I know these are less than ideal circumstances. There'll be plenty of time for embarassing stories in the future."

The two women then both turned their attention back to the pool and yard and stood there side by side thinking.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Callie asked as she approached Arizona that was putting on her shoes by the door. The blonde had changed the Torres t-shirt for a lace tank top and her black bra could be spotted underneath the top.

The blonde looked up and smiled. "Hi. You're done with your shower! Was it good?"

The brunette nodded her head. "It was fine. Where are you going?" Callie asked again.

Arizona finished putting on her shoes and walked up to Callie putting her arms around her girlfriend's waist. "I'm just going out for a little bit. I need to get a present for Rei. Your parents let me use the car and Roberto is driving me to the mall."

"Just give me a second to change and then I'll go with you" the brunette said and started to turn but the arms around her waist held her tightly.

"No. I can do it just fine by myself. Besides if we go to the mall together we'll be spotted with 100% certainty. And I'm not sure that I can refrain myself from touching you when you look so sad and broken Calliope. We don't need a media outing on top of all that is going on here. Let me go alone. I'll be back soon I promise!" Arizona gently said.

Callie looked a little hurt and the blonde sighed. "Please don't make that face. I love you. And I want to spend all my time with you. But I can't not give your sister a present for her birthday when she invited me to stay here. Please let me do this" Arizona tenderly stated.

The brunette smiled sadly, leaned in and hugged her girlfriend. "Okay. But hurry back please."

Arizona pulled back and gently kissed her girlfriend's soft lips as she caressed a caramel cheek. "I will." Then the blonde grabbed her jacket and went out through the door and towards the approaching car. She waved at Callie one last time before sliding in on the backseat.

"Hello Ms. Robbins. Going to the mall?" Roberto asked with a smile in the rear mirror.

Arizona smiled back. "Hello Roberto. Please call me Arizona. And could you take me here instead?" the blonde asked as she handed the driver a note with an address scribbled down on it.

Roberto smiled at the blonde again. "Of course. No problem."

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Aria's eyes hardened as she spotted the blonde in the waiting area of the 30th floor of Torres Incoroporated.

"I just want to talk to you Aria" the blonde gently stated.

Aria huffed. "I don't have time for this. I've got a possible client stopping by in two minutes."

"Yeah, about that" Arizona said with a small smile "that's me. Your appointment is with me. Actually your appointment is with my mom because I used her maiden name to schedule the appointment."

Aria sighed, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course it is. Just as I thought this couldn't get any worse you show up!"

The blonde carefully moved a little closer to the brunette. "I can't force you to talk to me Aria. But I'd be really thankful if you'd hear me out."

Aria opened her eyes and looked at Arizona. The brunette's eyes were filled with raw sorrow and it both surprised and scared the blonde. "Fine. We can go to my office. Follow me."

The blonde did as she was told and followed Aria to a big office at the end of the hall. It overlooked the beach and the sight was breathtaking. Arizona whistled. "That's a really nice view you've got from here" she said with a smile.

"Please spare me the small talk and get to the point" Aria said as she slumped down in her office chair.

Arizona took a seat opposite of her and sighed. "I know that it must have taken you by surprise that she was suddenly dating me Aria. And I totally understand that. I'm not here to ask you to go back and kiss and make up with Callie. Don't get me wrong it would be great if you would. But I'm actually here for Jael and Rei, Aria."

The brunette's brows furrowed in confusion. "You're here for Jael and Rei? Why? What happened? Are they okay?" Aria asked with concern in her voice.

The blonde smiled. "I actually don't know how to answer those questions Aria. Why? Because they are miserable. They miss you. And Rei's birthday is the day after tomorrow and she feels like she has to choose which of her sister's she wants to celebrate it with. Are they okay? I don't really know. Jael is keeping up a facade in front of everyone. Probably because she's suddenly the strong one. She's stepping up to be there for Callie and Rei who are both falling apart in front of her very eyes. As for Rei nobody really knows what's going on in her head, because she's not talking to anyone. They both told me that they're worried about you because you didn't answer any of their texts or calls. Jael's eyes are attached to her phone and Rei's got permanent worry lines on her forehead from waiting for any form of signal of life from you" Arizona answered honestly.

A sheen of tears appeared in Aria's eyes. "Jael's always been a rock. And Rei has always worried too much about the rest of us." The brunette cleared her throat before continuing. "What do you want me to do Arizona?"

The blonde sighed. "Text or call them back Aria. Please. And would it really kill you to come to the house for Rei's birthday? Can't you just be in the same house as Callie for one day? For Rei's sake? I can leave if you don't want me there. But Rei needs ALL of her sisters there."

"I'll think about texting them back. But the other thing is not up to me" Aria said as she shook her head. "My father threw me out of the house!"

Arizona smiled sadly. "Yeah, I heard about that. But if you showed up for his youngest daughter's sake I'm sure he would let you in Aria. And Rei and Jael aren't the only ones who miss you. They all do. Including your father."

The blonde sighed in defeat as the brunette didn't say anything back. "Look Aria. I don't know why you've got so much against Callie's relationship with me. I only met the rest of your family yesterday but they've all been so nice and welcoming towards me. I can't imagine you not being as kind hearted as the rest of the Torres clan."

The brunette looked at Arizona for a few second before her eyes filled with tears. "Callie's been my hero my whole life. She's always done what's expected of her. And she's always done it with so much grace. The rest of us never stood a chance at living up to her. You should have seen my parents the day she married Mark. They've never looked at any of us with so much pride. Not when Callie graduated Juilliard and not when I graduated the International University College of Business here in Miami. And the wedding was so beautiful. Callie looked gorgeous and so very happy. Mark charmed the pants of all the ladies with his speech to her and when they drove of I remember thinking 'This is it! This is what you're supposed to aim towards. This is what the beginning of a family looks like'" Aria wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hands. She didn't know when she'd started crying.

"And then suddenly out of the blue Mark divorced her last year and a year later she came back announcing that she was now dating you. And I'm sure you're a nice person Arizona. I don't have any reason to think anything else. In fact you being here for Rei and Jael's sake just prove to me that you are great. But it's like Callie's broken my perfect picture of her in one swift motion. She was supposed to get married and start a family. She wasn't supposed to turn gay and date you. And I don't think that I'll ever look at her like I used to" the brunette finished.

The blonde opened and closed her mouth a few times. This was not what she'd expected. Then she smiled a little. She could work with this. "What makes you think she can't do those things with me Aria? I get that her family and your family will look very different and even though that's okay I get why that feels weird to you. I can tell that you've always reflected your life on Callie's. But you don't need to Aria. Your parents are really proud of you. And it sounds like you're an academically rock to Rei. I know for a fact that Callie really treasures you as a sister. You're your own person Aria. And you don't need to replicate everything Callie does for your family to be proud of you or accept you. Just because you'll marry a guy and she'll, hopefully, marry me then you won't be any less worthy or respected as a part of that family. They love YOU Aria. And they don't love you because your path in life mirrors Callie's they love you because you are you" Arizona finished with a small smile at her girlfriend's sister.

Aria looked at Arizona and cleared her throat. "I'd like you to leave now."

"Aria…" the blonde started but she was cut off as Aria slammed her hand down on the table. "I said I'd like you to leave. NOW!" the brunette hissed out.

Arizona nodded her head and slowly rose from the chair. As she reached the door she turned around and looked at Aria one last time. "Just please think about it, Aria. Please." Then the blonde opened the door and made her way out of the office towards the elevator and the waiting car.

 **And that was chapter 29. I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Please let me know what you thought of it – I appreciate every one of your reviews.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	30. Chapter 30

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Oh my gosh I can't believe I've reached 200 followers on my story! And I can't believe all the nice reviews I got for that last chapter! :O Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! A lot of you seem to think that chapter 29 was the best one yet and that made me really happy. Although it makes me kind of nervous if you'll be disappointed in chapter 30 then :P**

 **To bluesky25: I'm glad I surprised a little with that :)**

 **To greysfan1995: LOL – Well I hope you find someone as supportive as that. Everyone deserves that! :D**

 **To camilovesgreys: Oh I just realized that you're the author of 'Young and in love'! I've really enjoy your story too.**

 **To BattleshipArizona: I'm glad it surprised you all ;) I'm just kind of fed up with it always being Callie's parents so I took the liberty to do something else in my story.**

 **To elmarti: Thank you for such kind words. I'm so happy you think I described their relationship well because I really wanted to make them seem like a strong bunch who's very tight with one another.**

 **To scampers0213: THANK YOU! I'm so glad you saw Arizona's strength and compassion in this chapter.**

 **To LoveComesFromUs: Thank you again for an amazing, and long, review! They are always very welcome :D**

 **To cg7180: No need to check anymore – here's chapter 30! ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! ;)**

CHAPTER 30:

Arizona slowly woke up and stretched a little. Her movements were limited as a snoozing Callie was resting her head on the blonde's shoulder. The blonde looked down at her sleeping girlfriend and stroked her cheek ever so softly.

After the blonde got back to the house yesterday Callie had barely let Arizona out of her sight for a second. And the brunette had been in some sort of physical contact with the blonde whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Arizona kissed the top of Callie's head and caressed her lower back. The blonde's heart ached for her girlfriend, her sisters and her parents. It was very clear that the Torres family had always been a very tight group and they all dealt with the fact that Aria was now missing very differently.

Lucia spent all of her time making sure that none of them lacked anything. Whether it was water or food or a blanket she would bring it in an instant. She even offered to go buy Arizona some clothes and she'd looked a little disappointed when the blonde had told her thank you but she'd already picked something up while being at the mall. Carlos had more or less locked himself up in his office after getting back from his business meeting and when he emerged it was clear that his thoughts were anywhere but present. But he tried his best to be interested in Arizona and pay attention to the blonde's presence in their house. Jael still kept on a strong façade, joking and trying to lift everyone's spirits and Rei walked around practically without talking to anyone.

And Callie was drowning. The brunette shifted between being furious with Aria for her reaction and crying uncontrollably because she was blaming herself for what had happened. And Arizona didn't know what to do other than being there for her girlfriend.

Arizona's talk with Aria had started out kind of well if the blonde had to say so herself. But she wasn't sure about the ending. She prayed to a God she didn't even know if she truly believed in, that Aria had listened to what the blonde had told her and would show up for Rei's birthday. But if Arizona was honest with herself she found that very unlikely.

The brunette started to stir as Arizona was admiring her. A sigh escaped plump lips and ever so slowly she started waking up. Her eyelids fluttered and beautiful brown eyes came into view for just a second before the brunette closed her eyes again shifting even closer to Arizona. The blonde felt a soft caramel leg intertwine with her own and she smiled at the feeling. "Good morning gorgeous" Arizona softly said.

"Mmmm morning" Callie rasped out before clearing her throat. Then she softly kissed an ivory collarbone. "What time is it?"

Arizona reached out and grabbed her phone. She looked at it before placing it back down. "6.13."

Callie snuggled up to her girlfriend. "Thank God it's still early. I really don't feel like getting up."

The blonde put both her arms around the brunette and hugged her close. "Are you okay?" Arizona tenderly asked.

The brunette sighed against her girlfriend's neck. Arizona showing up yesterday had saved her. Callie had been so lost and the mere sight of her girlfriend had made the brunette feel like she could breathe again. And at the same time like it was okay to just fall apart completely.

The moment she saw Arizona standing in the living room Callie had suddenly discovered this raw need for the blonde. And it was rooted deeper within her than the brunette had ever imagined. Arizona was it for her. Callie was hooked. And she never wanted to let the blonde go.

"I love you. Like I really, really love you" Callie choked out and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

Arizona tightened her grip on her girlfriend. "I really, really love you too. Are you okay?" the blonde lovingly repeated.

Callie exhaled. "I don't know. Everything seems so broken and fucked up. Everything but you" the brunette vulnerably replied. "I can't even imagine what I would do if you weren't here."

The blonde shifted so her and Callie were now facing each other. Their faces only inches apart. Arizona reached up and traced Callie's cheek, then her chin and lastly her lips with her fingers. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not going anywhere."

"I want to fix it Arizona" the brunette croaked out before bursting into tears.

Arizona inched forward and hugged her girlfriend. "I know Callie. I know"

The brunette kept crying and Arizona stroked her back. "She's not a bad person. Aria. She's not a bad person" Callie breathed out as her tears finally subsided a little.

The blonde pulled back and looked at the brunette. "I don't think she is. She is your sister. And you are quite extraordinary. And was raised by such loving parents. Jael and Rei are sweet, intelligent and welcoming people. Aria is bound to be a good person too."

The brunette leaned forward and covered pink lips with her own. She dwelled in the taste and feeling of those soft lips pressed against her own. When a small sigh escaped Arizona making her part her lips slightly the brunette slipped her tongue inside her girlfriend's mouth. It sought out Arizona's immediately and Callie slowly and carefully twisted her tongue around the blonde's.

Arizona couldn't remember the last time Callie had kissed her with so much care and she almost wanted to burst into tears from the sheer gratitude and love the kiss conveyed from the brunette. The brunette shifted next to her and moved so she lay on top of Arizona resting her weight on her hands that were now placed firmly on each side of the blonde's face.

The brunette changed her position slightly making her thigh press up against Arizona's short covered center. The blonde whimpered out at the contact and the sound made Callie deepen the kiss even further. It heated up between them in an instant and the brunette moved one of her hands to Arizona's breasts.

Then the blonde removed her lips from her girlfriend's. "Wait" she gasped panting. "We shouldn't do this."

Callie opened her eyes and looked into ocean blue ones staring back at her. "Why not? I can tell you want to" the brunette let out.

Arizona smiled and reached a hand up to cup a tanned cheek. "Of course I want to. But I have a feeling that you don't want to. Not really. And that's okay Calliope."

The brunette exhaled audibly and closed her eyes as she rested her forehead on Arizona's. "I'm sorry. My emotions are just all over the place. And I do want to Arizona" the brunette sighed. "I sort of want to at least…I don't know. I just want to not feel like this for a little while."

The blonde shifted her head and let her lips graze her girlfriend's. "It's not going to work my love" Arizona tenderly whispered.

"I know" Callie sighed and softly kissed waiting pink lips. "Can we just lie here for a while though? Before getting up? I just want to lie here with you."

"Of course we can" Arizona replied and guided Callie down to rest her head on her chest. "We can lie here for as long as you want."

* * *

Callie and Arizona had lazed around all day. The brunette had reluctantly decided that they should leave the bed around 10. Then they had showered together and Arizona had very tenderly washed and caressed every inch of her girlfriend's gorgeous body. On Callie's initiative they'd shared a very steamy round of kisses and had been standing in a tight embrace under the showerhead until the water ran cold.

The two women had made it to the kitchen just in time for an epic brunch cooked by Lucia. Carlos was off to work and as they sat down to eat Jael got back from her run. The second youngest Torres sister had very clearly used her time alone on the pavement to let some of her emotions out and Arizona felt bad for the other woman as she made her way to shower with red, puffy eyes.

Ten minutes later Jael emerged in the kitchen back to her put together self and joined her mother, Callie and Arizona for brunch. Rei had come down and grabbed a bowl of cereal before retreating to her room. Both Jael and Callie had tried getting the teenager to come down and eat with them but they hadn't succeeded. At last they'd sent Arizona trying but she hadn't been able to do it either.

After brunch Arizona had persuaded Callie to come out and sit by the pool with her for a little while. They'd sat with their feet dangling down in the water and the blonde had gotten her girlfriend to laugh a little when she'd attempted to start a water fight with the brunette.

Now Callie and Arizona were lying entangled on the couch. A muted episode of 'Special Victims Unit' played across the screen. The blonde was spooning Callie and the brunette was playing with ivory fingers.

"I'm afraid things will never go back to normal. Even if Aria does decide that she can live with this I'm afraid it'll never be the same. I'm afraid that I've broken the bond the four of used to share" Callie said with evident sadness.

Arizona leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend's shoulder. "I have to say that I don't think you've broken anything Callie. And even if it won't be exactly how it used to be then I'm sure that your bond with your sister can't ever be broken. You all need to adjust to this but you will get to a point someday where you will have fun with your sister like you did before. Even if Aria can't accept this Jael and Rei will still want to do things with you" the blonde stated.

The front door opened and closed and the duo heard muffled voices coming from the kitchen.

Callie sighed. "Yeah. But it won't be the same" the brunette concluded.

"Are you absolutely sure that this is worth it Callie? That I'm worth it?" the blonde vulnerably whispered.

The brunette whipped around on the couch facing the blonde. "What? Of course I'm sure you're worth it? How can you even ask me that!"

Arizona put a hand on the brunette's upper arm and softly slid it down. "I didn't say it to upset you Callie. But you are so broken. And I have no idea what to do. I don't want you waking up in 20 years hating me for causing you to lose one of your sisters if Aria never comes around. I love you. And I know that you love me. I just want to make sure that you've considered it" the blonde weakly stated.

Callie granted her girlfriend a small smile. "Even if I did decide that you weren't worth it, which will NEVER happen by the way, then there would still be a possibility that I would be attracted to a woman later on in life. What then? This is who I am now Arizona. Nothing can change that" the brunette replied.

The duo stopped talking as solid footsteps approached in the hall.

"Arizona! A word!" Carlos firmly threw towards the living room as he made his way through the hall and into his office.

Callie looked at Arizona with questioning eyes but the blonde just shrugged her shoulders and moved from the couch. In the back of her mind she had a small idea what Carlos wanted to talk to her about and she had no idea what to do with that.

She entered the office and closed the door behind her. "You wanted to talk to me, sir?"

Carlos sat back in his chair behind his big desk and looked at the blonde. Arizona was 100% sure she saw fire burning in his brown eyes and she gulped as she apporached the desk.

"Aria called me in to her office today. Naturally I was very happy about that. That was until I got there and she asked me to very kindly keep my out of control daughter in law away from her" Carlos said.

Arizona looked at him and held up her hand. "Look Mr. Torres with all due respect…"

"Respect?" Carlos hissed out. "Respect? Are you kidding me? I get that you're here for Callie, Arizona. But you're ONLY here for Callie. Let ME deal with MY family. You don't know my daughters! You don't know how to talk to them or how to get through to them! STAY. OUT. OF. IT! Am I making myself clear?" the man stated with anger in his voice.

The blonde nodded her head once. "Perfectly sir."

"Good. I think it would be best if you left now" Carlos then added.

Arizona again nodded her head. "Of course. I'll leave you to it" the blonde said as she turned around and moved towards the door.

"That's not what I meant. I meant left as in went back to Georgia or California or wherever you wish to go. You can take my plane" the man finished.

The blonde widened her eyes before closing them tight. This couldn't happen. She couldn't leave. And now she'd have to stand up to her girlfriend's father. A man Arizona was pretty sure wasn't used to being contradicted. And she had no idea how he would react to that. The blonde turned around to look at Carlos. "No."

The man looked at Arizona in disbelief and blinked his eyes a few times. "Excuse me? Did you just say no?"

The blonde nodded her head. "I did. I can't do that sir. If I leave then I'm quite certain that Callie will follow. Rei's birthday is TOMORROW. Do you really think you can persuade Aria to come back here in that short amount of time? Do you want to risk Rei celebrating her birthday with only one of her sisters present? Because I honestly don't. Sir!" the blonde finished as she commenced in what had to be the longest stare down ever with none other than Carlos Torres.

Finally the older man shifted his gaze to the papers that lay in front of him on the big mahogany desk. "Leave my office" he coldly stated as he started shifting through them.

Arizona tried really hard not to breathe a sigh of relief that she at least won this one. She had no idea how long this weird kind of truce would last though. She made her way out of the office and back to the living room. She found that Callie had been joined by Jael and Rei and the three of them had just started watching 'The Wizard of Oz'.

The blonde walked to the couch and sat down next to Callie who immediately laced her fingers with the blonde's. "Oh I love that movie" Arizona said with a smile.

"It's Aria's favorite" Rei softly stated from her place on the love seat.

Arizona looked at Callie who got a pained expression on her face as she kept her eyes glued to the TV. Arizona leaned over and put her forehead on Callie's cheek. "It's not your fault. And you shouldn't torture yourself with this. Do you want to go do something else? Go out into the backyard again maybe? We could catch some more sun. Or we could get a blanket and lay in the shadows for a while. I could read you something?" the blonde tried.

The brunette just closed her eyes and shook her head gently. "No. I'd like to just sit here with Jael and Rei" Callie gently replied.

Arizona pulled back a little and studied her girlfriend's profile. "Do you think that maybe it would be for the best if I went back to LA?" the blonde asked tenderly.

Callie's head whipped around so fast Arizona thought she might get whiplash. The brunette studied her girlfriend. Arizona had been a rock to her nonstop since she got here. And Callie knew that she had been anything but an attentive girlfriend these past 24 hours but she'd never thought that the blonde would suggest leaving.

"Do you want to go back to LA?" the brunette hesitantly asked.

The blonde shook her head. "No. But I don't know if my presence is helping Callie. If maybe it would be better for you guys if I left you alone. And you could deal with this together as a family."

Callie just stared at Arizona. "Of course your presence is helping. I need you here. I want you here. Did my dad say something to you to make you think otherwise?" the brunette questioned.

"No. I was just thinking about it" Arizona replied. "Just forget I said something" the blonde added and pulled Callie close to her by putting her arm around a tanned shoulder.

The brunette couldn't take her eyes from her girlfriend. "Please don't leave Arizona. I can't…If you want to go home then I want to go with you."

Arizona smiled reassuringly at Callie. "I won't leave."

The brunette relaxed and turned her attention back to the TV and her estranged sister's favorite movie.

* * *

When dinner rolled around Arizona helped Lucia set the table. As she was setting a big bowl of pasta down on the table and Callie, Jael and Rei were taking their seats Carlos approached the blonde and beckoned her to join him at the side of the room. Arizona was very aware of the questioning chocolate brown eyes that followed her as she met up with Carlos near the door.

"You leave the day after tomorrow okay? You can stay for Rei's birthday but then you are leaving my house. I know you would have had to leave Friday anyway due to Teddy and Addison's wedding Saturday and you will come up with some sort of excuse as to why you'll have to leave a day early. Understood?" the man stated.

Arizona nodded her head. Truce was obviously over and although thia wasn't ideal then at least Rei got to celebrate her birthday with both Callie and Jael there. And that was all Arizona wanted. "Yes sir."

"Good." Then the man's expression softened. "It's not that I don't like you Arizona. Or appreciate you being here for my daughter. But I just don't think that your presence is doing anyone, except Callie, any good. If Aria is ever to accept this and come back then I need you to stay out of all of this. Now smile because my Calliope looks like she's afraid I might kill you over here" Carlos finished.

The blonde forced a smile on her face and moved to her seat at the table. "Everything okay?" Callie asked with furrowed brows.

Arizona looked at her girlfriend. "Everything is fine. Now let's eat" the blonde stated and accepted the breadbasket that was handed to her by Jael.

Arizona glanced at Carlos as he was serving himself to the delicious pasta dish Lucia had cooked. The blonde had clearly pissed of her girlfriend's father and even though she had a feeling the man had a huge amount of respect for her she still had this urge to try and make it better.

"So, what do you want for breakfast tomorrow honey?" Lucia asked her youngest daughter and brought Arizona out of her thoughts.

Rei just shrugged her shoulders as she twirled her pasta around on her plate. "It doesn't matter" the teenager whispered almost inaudibly.

"Come on Rei, you've got to pick something. It's tradition" Jael tried with her most encouraging voice.

The teenager looked up at her big sister. "Fine, then I'd like to have an egg white omelet with spinach, ham and cheese and with a side of fried tomatoes."

Callie sighed and put her fork down. Lucia looked at Rei with sadness in her eyes and Jael smiled a little at her younger sister. "Come on Rei. That's Aria's favorite. Why do you want that? You always get waffles with something."

Rei dropped her fork making it cling against the plate. "Well if you already know what I want then why the hell do you ask? Who says that I want anything at all?"

"Rei…" Carlos began as he looked at tearful brown eyes. But he was interrupted by the doorbell. The Torres patriarch looked at his wife who just shrugged her shoulders in unawareness of who was at the door.

"Excuse me" Carlos said as he rose from his seat at the dining table and made his way out the living room.

The remaining people sitting at the table returned their attention to the unhappy teenager. "How about waffles filled with caramel sauce and bananas?" Lucia tried again.

Rei just shook her head. "No thank you."

"Then how about those disgusting waffles you like so much filled with bacon, chocolate and syrup?" Jael chipped in.

"No thank you. I would like the egg white omelet with spinach, ham and cheese and with a side of fried tomatoes" the teenager repeated once again. This time a bit annoyed.

"Are you stealing my birthday favorite, hermanita?" The five women at the table all turned their attention towards the door where a very tired looking Aria stood next to Carlos who had his hand resting at the small of her back.

"Aria" Rei whispered with wide eyes. "Oh my God Aria" she let out louder before shooting out of the chair and running straight into the waiting arms of her older sister.

Aria closed her eyes and hugged Rei tightly. "Hi" the older Torres softly said into her sister's hair.

"Hi" Rei repeated. "I've missed you. You didn't even text me back."

Aria pulled back a little and brushed her hand through her youngest sister's long brown hair. "I know. And I'm really sorry Rei. That was reckless and kind of bitchy of me. But I'm here now. And I really hope you change your mind about that breakfast. Because I could really go for the waffles. We already missed Callie's blueberry pancakes this year and if we don't get your waffles either then who's going to make sure we all get diabetes?" Aria joked and that made her little sister laugh.

Rei smiled at Aria. "You're staying?" she hesitantly asked.

"I'm staying" Aria confirmed.

Rei's smile got impossibly big and she hugged her sister again. When she released her moments later Rei made her way back to her seat at the dining table and started eating.

Aria smiled at the sight of her little sister shoveling food into her mouth before shifting her gaze to Jael. Aria smiled at her other little sister who looked really relieved to see her but still had a trace of anger in her eyes. "Hey J" Aria gently said. She knew she needed to thread carefully here.

Jael let a little smile graze her lips. "Hi."

Lucia rose from her seat and made her way to her daughter. She hugged her and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I'm glad you're here mija. Come sit down." The older woman sent her husband a questioning look but he just smiled in return.

Aria hesitantly made her way to the table. Her usual seat was occupied by Arizona so the brunette moved to sit on the other side of the table next to her father and across from the blonde. She smiled briefly at Arizona.

Lucia made her way to the kitchen and came back with a plate, fork, knife and a glass for Aria. She put it down in front of her daughter, squeezed her shoulder and retook her seat on the other side of Carlos. The room was completely quiet. Everyone was looking at Aria who stared at Callie who in turn had her eyes glued to her plate.

Arizona took the bowl of pasta and handed it to Aria. The brunette removed her gaze from her big sister and accepted the bowl with gratitude. "Thank you" Aria mumbled.

"You're welcome" the blonde replied with a smile. The six of them resumed eating while Aria scooped food onto her plate. Arizona looked at Rei who was sporting a dazzling smile and the blonde was happy that the teenager finally seemed in better spirits.

"I can't do this!" Callie's voice cut through the air like nails on a chalkboard. Arizona turned her head to the side to gauge at her girlfriend.

"Why not?" "Mija please" and "Not now Big-C!" were fired towards the brunette from Rei, Lucia and Jael.

Callie turned her attention to Aria. "I can't sit here and just pretend like nothing happened! Why are you here Aria? Are you oh so suddenly okay with this?" the eldest Torres sister asked as she gestured between herself and Arizona.

Arizona reached out and grabbed her girlfriend's hand. "Callie come on. Let's just eat" the blonde tried.

Callie looked at her girlfriend with incredulity. "No Arizona. She hasn't even introduced herself to you. Hell she hasn't even acknowledged your existence. Not to mention I think she at least owes me some sort of explanation or apology. Or maybe just a 'hi'" the brunette deadpanned.

Aria put her fork down. "I didn't greet you because I had no idea how you would react to that. And I don't need to introduce myself to her because I met her already" the younger brunette gently said while she tried to catch her big sister's eye.

This made Callie turn her head slightly and look at her younger sister. "Of course you didn't meet her already! I'm not an idiot Aria. When would that have happened? She's been here the whole time."

"She came to Torres Inc. yesterday afternoon." Aria turned her attention to Arizona and smiled apologetic at the blonde. "She's the reason I'm here."

Lucia, Rei, Jael and Callie all turned their gazes to Arizona. "What?" Callie whispered as she tried to lock eyes with her girlfriend. "You went to see her yesterday?"

The blonde closed her eyes for a second as she sighed softly. Then she reopened them and looked at her favorite chocolate brown orbs. "I did. I had Roberto take me to Torres Incorporated yesterday before I went to the mall" Arizona said as she glanced at Carlos who had and odd look showing both gratitude and slight anger.

"She came because she was worried about the other rugrats." Aria added as she locked eyes with her big sister knowing the importance and difference that statement would make to Callie.

The brunette felt her heart explode in love for her blonde haired girlfriend in that moment. Callie couldn't help herself and she smiled a little at Aria. "Yeah?"

Aria softly smiled back. "Yeah. She said I needed to give them some sort of sign that I was still out there somewhere. Because they were really struggling with my absence."

"They weren't the only ones" Callie whispered before turning her attention to Arizona. "I can't believe you went to see her? How?"

The blonde chuckled. "I can use google too Calliope. And I made an appointment with her. Used my mom's maiden name to book it. Barbara Robbins would NOT be impressed with me lying to get in somewhere though" Arizona added as she rolled her eyes.

Callie shifted the hand that was grasped with Arizona's and intertwined their fingers. "I think she would be very proud of you for doing that."

"I know you are probably really mad at me and very hurt by my reaction. And we do need to talk Cal. But now is not the time. We should do that in private. Just you and me. Maybe with a bottle from papi's liquor cabinet" Aria added with a small smile.

"I'd like that" Callie softly replied.

"Arizona." The blonde's name was choked out and Arizona almost missed that it was actually her name being spoken. Five sets of brown eyes and one set of blues turned to look at Jael who had an exhausted look on her face as a few tears trickled down her cheeks. "Thank you" the second youngest Torres sister stated with a crack to her voice.

Both Aria and Callie got tears in their eyes when they both realized just how big of a toll the whole thing had taken on Jael. The young woman looked like she was about to fall asleep sitting up and the relief her face sported was overwhelming.

The blonde smiled at the young woman who'd had the world resting on her shoulders for the past five days. "No need to thank me Jael."

"I'm sorry I didn't take a minute to process what you said when you were there Arizona. And I'm sorry I told my father on you" Aria said towards the blonde but she couldn't help but glance at Callie to gauge her sister's reaction.

"You tattled to papi on her?" Callie asked in disbelief. Then she closed her eyes. "Dios mio. That's why you wanted to talk to her?" the brunette said as she opened her eyes to throw her dad a look. "What did you say to her?"

Carlos looked at his daughter and Arizona thought she saw a look of regret flash across the man's face. "I told her to stay out of it. And then I asked her to leave."

Callie's eyes widened "You asked her to leave. What the hell papi! You do realize that I would have left with her right?"

The Torres patriarch nodded his head. "She made me aware of that actually. And obviously she refused to leave. Because she's still here. She can hold her own ground Calliope."

The brunette turned her attention back to her girlfriend. "You contradicted my father?" the brunette asked.

Arizona gulped. She couldn't quite place the look on the other woman's face. "Yes" the blonde answered firmly.

"Could you just come with me for a second?" Callie asked her girlfriend as she rose from her chair. Arizona cleared her throat before following suit. "Excuse us for a second" the brunette said as she grabbed the blonde's hand and started dragging her towards the hall.

Arizona gulped again. Callie's voice gave nothing away and she was really scared that she was being dragged out into the hall to be scolded.

When they reached their destination the brunette turned towards the stairs and stopped at the foot of the staircase.

"I'm really sorry if I've upset you Callie. I just felt so bad for Jael and Rei. They were miserable. And I'm sorry I was kind of rude to your dad but…" The blonde was cut off as velvety soft lips captured hers in a persisting and passionate kiss. The brunette kissed her girlfriend like her life depended on it. Arizona had really stepped up these past few days and had proved herself to be the most amazing girlfriend ever.

"Tell me what happened? Why didn't she come here until now? And what exactly did my dad say to you?" Callie asked out of breath as she tore her lips from pink ones and rested the side of her own forehead against the side of Arizona's forehead.

"You'll have to ask her that" Arizona answered. "Because I actually have no idea why she's even here. I thought I failed miserably in making her see my point. And don't worry about your dad. I think we might be sort of good now that Aria is here" the blonde added and turned her head to kiss plump lips again.

Callie couldn't help herself as she pushed her girlfriend back hard. An 'Oomph' left pink lips as her back collided with the wall. The brunette moved to pull away but ivory hands shot up and held her head in place by her neck.

An insistent tongue then found its way into Callie's mouth and the brunette smiled before moaning softly as Arizona flicked her tongue against hers. The brunette returned the sentiment and tipped her head slightly to get a better angle.

Moments later Arizona pulled back panting. She kept her lips so close to the brunette's that Callie could feel them graze hers every time the blonde breathed out. Callie inched forward and took a delicious, pink bottom lip between her teeth biting down and pulling back gently before releasing it with a pop.

"What happened?" Callie asked again as she looked into dark blue eyes.

"It's not a big deal Calliope" Arizona stated. "I went to see Aria, we talked and then she asked me to leave. Then she told your dad to keep his out of control daughter in law away from her and your dad told me to stay out of it. And leave. And then I refused" the blonde recounted.

An immense look of love appeared on the brunette's face. "You're way too good for me. You're way too good for this family" Callie softly said.

Arizona reached up and put a lock of brown hair that had escaped her girlfriend's ponytail behind a caramel ear. "I'm not. I love you. I want you to be as happy as absolutely possible."

The brunette leaned in and covered her girlfriend's lips in a searing kiss that made Arizona's toes tingle. "We should get back in there" Callie said as they parted and pointed towards the living room.

The blonde smiled and nodded her head. Then the two women returned to the dining table where the mood had obviously shifted. Rei and Lucia were laughing at something Jael had said. Aria and Carlos just rolled their eyes. Rei's eyes shifted to Callie as the duo entered the room. "Callie I was thinking that I'd really like a sister sleep over in my room tonight. Would you be up for that? I'd like to wake up surrounded by all of you on my birthday" Rei said hesitantly and a bit shyly.

Callie looked at Rei and opened her mouth to say something but she didn't exactly know what. Then she shifted her gaze to Jael who had a look of understanding on her face and lastly she looked at Aria who looked scared to hear her big sister's answer to that question.

"Of course she's up for that" Arizona said with a smile aimed at her girlfriend's youngest sister. She saw Callie turn to look at her out of the corner of her eyes and she could feel chocolate brown eyes drill holes in the side of her head.

"What? Arizona?" Callie questioned with uncertainty.

"Of course you're up for that!" Arizona said and nodded her head towards Rei. Callie averted her gaze to Rei who looked at her with such hopeful eyes. The eldest sister smiled at her younger sister. "Of course I'm up for that" Callie breathed out.

Rei leaped out of her chair and ran to throw her arms around Callie's neck hugging her from behind and placing a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you. I love you!" Then Rei pulled back and proceeded to Aria and hugged her the same way. "I love you too." Lastly she made her way to Jael, who she yanked from her chair and hugged her tightly. "And I really, really love you" the teenager tenderly stated. Then she pulled away. "You're in bed with me. Then these two" she said as she pointed to Aria and Callie "can stay on the madras on the floor."

Aria looked nervously at Callie who looked at Rei. "Hold up for just a second. I might be up for this but Arizona gets to join us."

The blonde watched as a flash of disappointment showed on the teenager's face. Then Arizona put her hand on Callie's shoulder making the brunette turn towards her. "No."

"No? What do you mean 'no'?" Callie asked in astonishment.

Carlos couldn't help himself and snorted slightly. "Well I'm glad to learn that I'm not the only one who's surprised by that" the man mumbled.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend's father for a second before turning her attention to Callie again. "It wouldn't be a sister sleep over if I'm there."

"Well they might as well get used to you being a part of this. Because I'm not letting you go anytime soon" the brunette said firmly.

The blonde smiled at the other woman and reached out for her hand. "I know. And they will. But this is a special occasion Callie. The four of you should spend tonight together."

"But what about you?" Callie asked.

Arizona smiled. "We can hang out until bedtime Callie. And then I'll be just fine sleeping in your very comfortable king size bed by myself. I'll survive just fine" the blonde added with a wink. Then she looked at Carlos. "Unless you just want me to leave?"

Carlos offered Arizona a crooked smile. "No" the man said as his smile slowly got bigger.

"Fine. You can sleep in my bed" Callie said with a slight whine. Then she pulled an ivory hand to her lips and kissed it softly. "But tomorrow night I'm back in my own bed with you!"

* * *

Hours later Callie was lying on a big madras next to Aria on the floor of Rei's room. Soft snores were coming from Rei and Jael in the bed but Callie just couldn't seem to fall asleep. When they'd gone to bed the four sisters had talked and laughed together for a while before finally deciding that it was time to call it a night completely. But that proved more difficult to Callie than she'd imagined.

"Callie? Are you awake?" the whispered words sounded like they were shouted in the deadly quiet room.

The brunette turned towards her sister. "Yes."

"I just…I want you to know that I love you. And that you're an amazing big sister" Aria tenderly breathed out.

Callie could see her sister's eyes glistening in the little moonlight that seeped through the curtains. "What happened Aria?" the older sister asked with a crack to her voice. "I'd never ever thought for a second that you of all people wouldn't accept Arizona and me."

Aria cleared her throat and dared to reach for Callie's hand. She was relieved when her big sister let her take it. "It wasn't really about accepting you and Arizona, who is so great by the way. First of all you just really took me by surprise. And then I have to admit that I was a little hurt that you'd only told Jael about her and not me too. How long has she known?" Aria asked.

Callie squeezed her sister's hand. "I only told her because Arizona freaked out the first time I kissed her. Which was at the 'Heart and Hospital' Christmas party. And the whole thing just really confused me. I mean Mark had just left me and suddenly I was attracted to a woman for the first time in my entire life. And Jael seemed like the one of you guys most likely to have kissed a woman too. So I turned to her for advice and then she just kept being let in on it when something new happened" Callie explained.

Aria nodded her head in understanding and looked up at the ceiling. "There's something else too. And I know you're probably going to get mad at me for that, but please don't leave because it will kill Rei if she wakes up and you're not here."

"I won't leave I promise" Callie assured.

The younger of the Torres sisters drew in a breath and started talking. "You've always been my hero Callie. I don't even think you know how much your life has always stood as the perfect example to me. But at the same time I've really hated you and your perfectness sometimes. Because the reason you've always been my hero and your life has always set a perfect example is because mama and papi have always praised you so much. It's been so hard to always have to live up to you. They've never expected anything from Jael because she was so out of control and Rei is the baby. She can breathe loudly and they'll commend her on it. But you and I were so much alike. And it's like I'm always one step behind Cal" Aria admitted and choked a little on the words.

"And when you told you were with Arizona my first thought was that FINALLY you weren't perfect. Finally there was something that didn't fit their perfect picture of you and your life. And then they just accepted it with ease. And that made me feel cheated. Because for just one second I felt like I could breathe for a change. That I could relax just a little bit because all of a sudden the pedestal you're up on would be lowered and I didn't have to aim as high. But it wasn't. Not at all" Aria finished.

Callie slowly pulled her hand from Aria's. "You actually wanted mama and papi to not accept my relationship with Arizona? You were rooting for me to be miserable?" the older brunette hissed incredulous.

"No. I never root for you to be miserable. I just wanted them to look at you with a little less admiration than they usually do. I'm really sorry Cal. But I'm just so exhausted. I want to achieve everything that you do. I was so happy for you when you married Mark and mama and papi were so proud! I couldn't wait for you guys to have kids. I couldn't wait for that to be my next step in my life too" Aria tried to explain.

"Are you freaking kidding me? I'm sorry that you feel insufficient Aria. But that's not on me! And of course mama and papi are as proud of you as they are of me. Why wouldn't they be? You are tremendously good at what you do. You don't have to be into women just because I am. You are free to live your own life. If you want to get married to a man and have 10 kids then do that!" Callie let out.

"Guys, you need to keep it down" came a sleepy voice from the bed. "You're going to wake up Rei if you keep going like that."

"Sorry" whispered Aria.

"Don't worry Jael. Aria and I are done talking" Callie hissed out.

The room got eerily quiet and only the sound of their breathing could be heard. Callie could tell by Aria's ragged breathing that her sister was crying. And even though Callie felt bad for her sister she was also quite angry with Aria due to the revelation of why she'd reacted the way she did. Because in Callie's mind it really didn't warrant a reaction like that. Or putting their sisters and parents through what Aria did these past days.

"She's all kinds of great. And such a good match for you Callie. I really hope you guys stick together. And I really want a chance to get to know her better. I hope you'll let me" Aria whispered with a hoarse, shaking voice.

Callie sighed. Then she reached out and grabbed her sister's hand. She squeezed it a little. "Goodnight Aria."

Aria squeezed back. "Goodnight."

* * *

Callie slowly woke as a ray of sunshine hit her face through a shift in the curtains. Her hand was still tightly clasped with Aria's who was sleeping soundly next to her. Judging by their breathing Jael and Rei were still sleeping too.

Callie turned her head and looked at her oldest little sister. Her brows were furrowed and she looked unbelievably tense even though she was obviously in a very deep sleep. Callie sighed a little and brushed Aria's hand with her thumb. The eldest Torres sister felt conflicted. She was mad at her sister. But she desperately wanted Aria to be more aware of her worth and importance in this family as an individual.

The door to the room opened and Callie's mother, father and girlfriend tiptoed in. Both Lucia and Arizona were carrying a tray and Carlos was carrying two presents. Callie received a bright smile from her girlfriend as the blonde spotted that her girlfriend was awake.

"Good morning mija. Wake up Aria would you?" Lucia tenderly whispered as her and Arizona put down the trays on Rei's dresser. Callie smiled and nodded in reply. The brunette gently turned and grabbed her sister's arm with her free hand shaking it slightly. Aria stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Callie signaled for her to be quiet and the younger brunette nodded in understanding as she yawned silently.

In the meantime Lucia had woken up Jael and Arizona chuckled quietly at the adorable sleepy expression her girlfriend's sister sported.

Aria and Callie stood up and walked towards the bed. Callie put her arm around Arizona's waist and kissed her cheek softly. "Good morning hot stuff" she gently whispered into the blonde's ear.

Arizona turned her head and mouthed a 'good morning' in response.

Then Lucia started singing 'Happy Birthday' and the rest of them joined. Arizona was blown away by the voices of this entire family. And she knew Callie had attended Juilliard but she wasn't quite prepared for the sweet, sweet sound of her girlfriend singing.

Rei started to stir in the bed and a smile broke out on her face as she stretched and slowly opened her eyes.

"Good morning Rei. Happy birthday" Carlos said as he bent down and kissed Rei's cheek.

"Thank you papi" the teenager answered with sparkling eyes and Arizona couldn't help but think that this morning had been very different if Aria hadn't shown up at the Torres house last night.

Lucia moved and kissed her daughter lovingly on the forehead while stroking her messy brown hair. "Happy birthday sweetie."

Rei smiled at her mother "Thank you mama."

Then the three big sisters took turns in moving over and hugging their youngest sister while wishing her a happy birthday. They all plumped down on the bed. Aria and Jael on one side of Rei on the bed and Callie on the other. Arizona moved and briefly hugged Rei as she too whished her a happy birthday. "Thank you Arizona. I hope you slept well?" the teenager asked tentative. The blonde smiled in return. "I slept like an angel."

That was one big fat lie. Arizona had twisted and turned all night in the still foreign bed without her gorgeous girlfriend by her side. But she couldn't tell Rei that. The blonde was yanked down by a hand around her wrist and was caught by Callie who moved so there was room for Arizona to sit next to her. The brunette smiled and leaned in towards her girlfriend looking her in the eye with a smug smile before moving her mouth to an ivory ear. "Liar, liar, pants on fire" Callie jokingly whispered.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle and glanced at Rei who was busy opening her first present. Then she turned her attention back to deep chocolate brown eyes. "I know. But I wasn't about to tell her that I slept awful. How did everything go in here?" Arizona asked.

Callie sighed. "It was…enlightening. I'm pissed off. And sad for Aria. I'm glad she opened up even though we're not finished talking about it yet. But we're good for now. We won't kill each other today anyway" the brunette whispered.

Arizona smiled lovingly at her girlfriend. "I'm glad." Then the blonde turned her attention to Rei who'd just pulled out a gorgeous pair of Manolo Blahnik ankle boots. The birthday girl shrieked in happiness and bolted from the bed to hug both of her parents tightly.

Jael, Aria and Callie just looked at the scene with their mouths agape. "Seriously" Jael asked as she picked up a boot from the box "You got her Manolo Blahniks for her birthday. What happened to 'you can't just get everything you want! You have to learn the value of money, mija!'?" Jael deadpanned as she parroted her mother.

The blonde watched as Lucia Torres blushed slightly. "We know. We just thought that Rei could use a little cheering up. With all that was going on." The mother replied as she looked at her three eldest daughters.

Jael then turned her attention to her two big sisters. "Well feel free to battle it out anytime near my birthday!"

Rei jumped back in bed and took the boot from Jael's hand. "Believe me you don't want that!" the teenager said and stuck her tongue out towards her youngest big sister but the seriousness in her words was not lost on anyone in the room.

"Those are som really, really beautiful and awesome boots" Arizona stated as she looked at the boot Rei still held in her hand.

Rei smiled at the blonde. "Thank you. I think so too."

Callie reached out and stroked her little sister's back as Rei proceeded to the next present. After opening the last of her presents; a pair of biker jeans, a handbag and a jacket from her sisters and a book of photography from Arizona, breakfast was served. Lucia and Carlos had pulled a pair of chairs to the bed stating that the bed was way too occupied already.

Rei had opted going for the waffles with caramel and banana stuffing anyway and Arizona couldn't believe it when she had the first taste. "Oh God this is sooooo great Rei" the blonde mumbled with her mouth full.

Rei smiled back at her sister's girlfriend. "I know right!"

Callie chuckled and reached out to wipe a drop of caramel sauce from pink lips. "You're adorable."

While they were eating the plan for the rest of the day was laid out. Rei just wanted to spend time by the pool with her family for the rest of the day and then after dinner, which had to be burgers from the grill, her BFF would pick her up for a trip to the movies.

"Wait!" Rei let out as Jael moved to get off the bed when she was done eating. "I need a picture of me and my awesome sisters for my Instagram account."

Callie groaned loudly. "Right now? I feel like I'm not even properly awake yet and I haven't even looked in the mirror."

Arizona shifted and ran her hand through her girlfriend's brown locks. She separated some of them on the way down and gently shook Callie's bangs a little. Then she pinched caramel cheeks softly. "There. You look stunning. Perfect" the blonde stated before standing from the bed and putting her hand out towards Rei. "Here, let me take it."

Rei smiled and thankfully handed the blonde her phone. Arizona stepped back a little. "Okay ladies say cheese" the blonde said before snapping several pictures of the beautiful Torres sisters.

Arizona handed her phone back to Rei who instantly looked through the pictures to make sure that one of them would be good enough. Jael peeked over her sister's shoulder before moving to leave the bed once more.

"Wait!" Rei stopped her again. Then the youngest looked at the blonde. "I'd like one with you in it too Arizona. I know I can't post it but I'd still like to have it."

The blonde smiled and crawled back into the bed and sat in front of her girlfriend. Callie put her arm around Arizona's waist while the blonde looped her arm through Rei's. The teenager handed her phone to her father who stepped in front of the bed and took a photo of the five women snuggled up closely in Rei's bed.

* * *

Arizona was swimming around in the pool laughing with Jael. The brunette had just recounted how her last date had went and the blonde couldn't stop laughing as she very picturesquely described how her date had tried to be the perfect gentleman and hold the door for her only to slam it in his own face on his way out.

Callie was tanning on a lounge chair talking to Aria and Rei while Lucia sat in the shadows reading and Carlos prepared the grill.

Callie smiled as she turned her head to look at her girlfriend as the sound of her sweet laughter filled the air again. Jael and Arizona seemed to get along really well and it made the brunette very happy.

"I think I'm going to go cool down" Aria said and moved from the lounge chair. She went to the pool and slowly climbed in.

"Hey Big-A" Jael said as Aria approached her and Arizona. The blonde could definitely still detect a hint of anger in Jael's voice as she addressed her sister.

"Hi" Aria replied and grabbed the inflatable turtle Rei had thrown in the pool. She turned her attention to the blonde. "So how do you like it here in Miami Arizona?"

Arizona smiled. "I love it here. I've actually never been here before. Callie promised to take me sightseeing the next time we're here."

Aria looked down for a second and fiddled with something on the beach toy. Then she looked back up at Arizona. "I'm glad you want to come back here again. All things considered."

"You are nice and welcoming people. ALL OF YOU are nice and welcoming people. And even though the circumstances for my visit weren't ideal this time around I haven't got any reason not to want to come back here" the blonde said as she smiled reassuringly at Aria.

"Thank you Arizona. For not judging me based on my actions that led to your arrival here" Aria emotionally stated.

"No need to thank me. Callie loves you a lot. She loves all three of you a lot" Arizona said as she threw a smile at Jael "and even the first time I met you at your office I could tell that you weren't that different from the Torres woman I already know and love so much."

A flood of water overpowered Arizona, Aria and Jael out of nowhere when Callie and Rei jumped bomb-style into the pool. The two brunettes laughed as they emerged from under the water and looked at their sisters and Arizona. "The drowned mouse look suits you" Callie teased as she approached Arizona and brushed wet blonde locks from the other woman's face.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend briefly before pouting. "That wasn't nice Calliope!"

Callie laughed. "Oh please like you wouldn't have done the same! You would love to see me all wet" the brunette deadpanned with a smile.

The blonde leaned in until her lips were almost touching a caramel ear. "You're right. I would love nothing more than to see you all wet. It's my favorite sight." Arizona whispered seductively. Then she pulled back and grinned at the slight blush that had crept up on her girlfriend's tanned neck.

Callie pulled Arizona to her in a hug. "I love you" the brunette mumbled into her girlfriend's neck.

"I know" Arizona softly replied.

"Why don't you ever kiss her?" Rei suddenly asked pulling the two women from their embrace.

Callie turned her attention to her youngest sister. "What do you mean? I kiss her plenty" the eldest brunette answered.

Rei shook her head. "No you don't. Not in front of us anyway. You used to kiss Mark all the time! Why don't you kiss her?" the teenager asked again.

Callie furrowed her brows. "I don't know. I hadn't even thought about it actually" the brunette truthfully stated.

The teenager shook her head. "If it's because she's a woman then you're an idiot Callie" Rei let out as she moved to the stairs to get out of the pool again. Jael and Aria followed her with grins on their faces.

Callie turned back to look at Arizona. "Did my little sister just call me an idiot?" the brunette asked as she tilted her head.

The blonde smiled smugly. "I think she did" Arizona replied.

"Hmm. I'm not sure I like that" Callie stated with a smile as she reached out and pulled the blonde closer by her waist. "But for the record it's not because you're a woman. I guess my thoughts have just been preoccupied. Kissing hasn't exactly been one of the things I've focused on. I'm sorry" the brunette added.

Arizona put her arms around her girlfriend's neck and played with the small hairs that had escaped the brunette's bun. "It's okay Callie. To be honest I hadn't thought about it either" the blonde said with a shrug of her shoulders.

The brunette leaned closer to the blonde until their faces were only inches apart. "I'm glad. Because I want you to know that I always want to kiss you. It might not be at the forefront of my mind when something like this happens but I always, ALWAYS want to kiss you."

Then plump lips connected with pink ones and Arizona couldn't help but smile as wolf whistles and encouraging heckling were heard from Rei, Aria and Jael.

* * *

After showering and washing the sunscreen and the chlorine off their bodies Aria, Jael, Rei, Lucia, Arizona and Callie were standing in the kitchen preparing things for the burgers.

"Darling could you just come help me with the grill?" Carlos' voice rang out through the house.

Arizona watched as Rei got up from her chair and raced towards the backyard while the rest of the women proceeded with what they were doing.

"How did you all know she was the one he needed help from?" the blonde asked curiously.

Jael smiled at Arizona. "Well her name means 'darling'. It's obvious they only got her because they felt the need to make sure they got at least one good one from all their hard work. I'm stuck with a name meaning 'strong as a mountain goat' and she got 'darling'. I think it's fairly obvious that they expected bigger things from her than they did from me" the second youngest Torres sister deadpanned.

Arizona chuckled at that comment and smiled when Callie finished up cutting the tomatoes, put down her knife and put her hand on the small of the blonde's back.

"Yeah and I for one blame Callie" Aria chipped in as she smiled at her older sister "I mean they did decide to make sure they had another try at getting it right just when our dear, dear big sister were in the middle of her terrible teens. I actually think she'd just brought home her first boyfriend. He was five years older than her and had a tattoo on his neck. Our dad almost had a heart attack."

Callie picked up a napkin and threw it at her sister. "I think Rei should just be happy they didn't wait to get her until you guys hit your teens because there's no way they would have taken their chances with having to wrestle one more teenage girl behaving like you guys did."

Lucia looked up from her cutting board and smiled at her eldest daughter. Then she looked at her two middle daughters. "You should listen to Calliope girls. Because she's right. You two were horrible. No wonder your talented big sister ended up fleeing the state."

Jael and Aria looked at their mother with small pouts. Then Jael shrugged her shoulders. "Well at least Arizona likes us. She said so in the pool earlier" Jael looked at Arizona and pointed her finger at the blonde "and you can't take it back now!"

The blonde laughed. "Don't worry I'm not going to! I meant it. I think your parents raised four wonderful daughters." Then Arizona turned to look at Callie. "Really wonderful" the blonde stated as she slipped her arm around Callie's waist and she heard Jael throw a "did you hear that mother. We're wonderful daughters" towards Lucia.

 **That's it for chapter 30! I hope you liked it.**

 **As always let me know what you thought of it – I'm a review junkie and I love it every single time an email alerts me to the fact that another one of you have left a comment for me!**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	31. Chapter 31

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys :)**

 **Firstly: SO SORRY it took me so long to update! Had to spend tuesday night going to a business dinner – and then I spent the next day and night being slightly hung over and that does not improve my English grammar so I had to wait with my last read through of the chapter! ;) And then ff was a total bitch last night and wouldn't let me post the chapter :O But anyway – better late than never!**

 **Thank you for your love for chapter 30! It makes me very happy that you continue to stick with me and my story!**

 **To Calzonafan123: I know. But I still think being four sisters brings a nice dynamic to the sibling group.**

 **To patricia: I'm very sorry, but I don't speak Spanish! :P But I hope I'm not entirely wrong when I think it means that you love me (or my story) and that I'm brilliant ;)**

 **To jolynn15: You ALMOST never want it to end – why only almost :P Lol! And don't worry…I can go on for quite some time with this if I continue to inspired.**

 **To Dani: Thank you for all your amazing compliments! ;)**

 **To Shelbi: Aweeeee thank you, that's so sweet. I'm glad it's helping your Calzona-heart :) That was the goal of it.**

 **To greysfan1995: As you probably figured out then no, there's no system to my updates. I often do it every other day though. But sometimes it slips. I basically just do it whenever I've got the time for it ;)**

 **To Lara: Thank you for letting me know! And I'm glad you like my story :)**

 **Here's chapter 31 for you all! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :D**

CHAPTER 31:

Callie ran to her door as soon as the doorbell sounded out through her house. She was back in her own home after her vacation with her family in Miami. After eating burgers and drinking milkshakes out by the grill on Rei's birthday the teenager had left to see the latest movie starring Joshua Halls with her friend. She'd worn her new jeans, jacket and boots along with a plain white tank top and Callie had taken a second to wonder when her little sister went from being a girl to being a young woman. She had looked absolutely beautiful.

The next day was spent just lazing around and enjoying the peace that had once again settled. Aria and Callie had decided to postpone the rest of their talk until the time was more favorable. Callie had encouraged her sister to tell their parents what she told Callie two nights before in Rei's room though.

At the breakfast that morning Arizona had announced, much to Callie's displeasure, that she'd be going back to Georgia that night. Carlos had assured the blonde that his demand of her leaving Thursday was no longer applicable. But the blonde needed to stop by her parents and pick up her things before heading back to LA for Teddy and Addison's wedding. Callie had whined a little about it but she understood. The brunette had made Arizona promise that she'd stop by Callie's house the next day before going to Teddy and Addison's apartment to spend the night with her honey-blonde best friend who by then would only be a night away from marrying her love.

And now it was Friday afternoon. Callie had arrived home an hour ago and the blonde was finally there. The brunette tore the door open and was met with her favorite blue eyed blonde. Arizona scanned Callie's body and her eyes widened. Her girlfriend was wearing a bright yellow bikini that really showed off her goods.

"Am I interrupting something?" the blonde asked as she regained her bearings and moved past the brunette and into the house.

Callie chuckled, closed the door and followed her girlfriend grabbing her by the waist and turning her around. "No. But for the record you can interrupt me anytime you want" the brunette breathed out and closed the distance between them. Plump lips connected with pink ones and Callie forced her tongue in Arizona's mouth.

The blonde couldn't help but moan at the intrusion. Their kisses at the Torres house had been appropriate. Too appropriate for Arizona's liking. Sure they'd had a steamy make out session in Callie's bed. Twice. And then they'd had one in the shower and the one in the hallway. But the blonde couldn't help but feel like it had been ages since her girlfriend had really kissed her.

Callie reluctantly pulled back when the need for air became too great. She opened her eyes and looked at the blonde who stood panting with her swollen lips slightly parted. Her eyes had changed to that dark unexplainably blue color that the brunette really loved.

"Let's go to the pool" Callie said and started to make her way towards the patio door with an ivory hand tightly grasped in her own.

"Callie I don't have my bikini" the blonde stated chuckling and tried to tear her hand from her girlfriend's clasp. But the brunette just tightened her grip. As they reached the pool side Callie turned around and took in her girlfriend. She wore short dark blue denim jeans and an orange tank top. A black bra strap was visible on one of her shoulders.

The brunette put her other hand on Arizona's waist and pulled her closer. She stared into blue eyes and smiled lovingly. "You don't need it." And then Callie leaned backwards letting herself and Arizona fall into the pool.

The blonde let out a shriek and tried desperately to avoid falling into the water. But without success. And before Arizona had time to react she was swimming around in the surface of the pool soaking wet. "Oh my God I can't believe you did that. Now my clothes are all wet!" Arizona said while she splashed some water in the brunette's direction.

Callie smiled and swam to her girlfriend grabbing her by the waist. "Well then I'll better take them off you" the brunette sultry whispered. She gently backed the blonde to rest her back against one of the pool walls. She grabbed the hem of the soaking tank top and yanked it over the blonde's head throwing it somewhere behind Arizona on the deck.

Then the brunette leaned in and claimed her girlfriend's lips while her hands made their way to the blonde's shorts snapping them open and pulling down the zipper. Callie hooked her thumbs in Arizona's panties and pulled down both her girlfriend's shorts and underwear in one swift motion. Then she pulled back from the kiss and moved to nip at an ivory neck all the way up to the blonde's ear. The brunette sucked Arizona's earlobe in her mouth and bit down slightly making a throaty moan leave pink lips.

"I've missed those sounds so much" the brunette tenderly whispered in Arizona's ear as her hand found its way between ivory thighs. Arizona's breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes in pleasure when a caramel finger came in contact with her clit.

"Calliope…We need to stop…Don't…Not here" the blonde choked out.

The brunette smiled and sucked on an ivory earlobe once more. "Don't worry about it. Nobody can see us. Or hear us."

The blonde tilted her head back. "How do you know that?" she husked out.

"I just do" Callie mumbled against Arizona's neck and started circling the blonde's clit with her finger that had so far just rested on her girlfriend's bundle of nerves.

Arizona's eyes shot open. "Tell me how you know that" the blonde panted.

Callie stopped her movements, pulled back and looked at Arizona. "I don't want to" the brunette gently stated.

Blue eyes flashed with realization. "You know because you used to do this with Mark" Arizona concluded.

The brunette sighed. "Arizona…" But the blonde had already removed herself from Callie's hold and was swimming towards the stairs.

Callie swam up to her and grabbed her wrist. "I thought we were past worries about me sharing this house with Mark?" the brunette vulnerably questioned.

Arizona looked at her girlfriend. "No. We're past you sharing your bed with Mark! Because you now sleep on what used to be his side! And then I don't think about it that much. But I don't want to do things with you and be intimate with you the way he used to" the blonde let out.

"Honey then it's going to be a little difficult for us to do anything" Callie answered with a small smile.

Blue eyes widened and the blonde yanked her hand from the brunette's grasp as she started swimming as fast as she could towards the stairs.

But a hand on her ankle stopped her and made her duck underwater for just a second. "Let me go!" Arizona said as she wrestled against her girlfriend's hold on her.

"No" Callie stated before pulling the blonde back towards her by her foot. When Arizona was close enough the brunette reached out and pulled her flush against her own body. "I know that it's not easy for you. Me having a past with Mark. And I know it's harder because he's your friend and he is a part of our lives. I would absolutely HATE if Thomas just showed up from New York one day and I had to look at him and you interact on a regular basis. But I wasn't about to have sex with you in this pool because I used to do it with Mark, Arizona. I was about to have sex with you in this pool because you drive me crazy with want."

The blonde stayed silent and still sported a hurt look. Callie sighed as she looked at her girlfriend. "Okay! You want me to do something you'll know for a fact I never did to Mark in here?" the brunette asked with passion as she once againg started backing Arizona towards the side of the pool. When the blonde's back collided with the wall Callie put her hands on an ivory waist and hoisted her half naked girlfriend up to sit on the edge of the pool.

The brunette reached up and pulled her girlfriend's head down for pink lips to meet her own in a passionate kiss. Teeth and tongues were clashing and the kiss left the blonde's head spinning. When they parted Callie gently pulled Arizona's butt to rest on the very tip of the edge of the tiles surrounding the pool.

While keeping eye contact with her girlfriend Callie leaned down and kissed two ivory thighs. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And you turn me on like nothing or no one ever has before" the brunette honestly said her voice laced with love and devotion. Then she parted Arizona's thighs slightly and while keeping eye contact with the other woman Callie slowly glided her hands all the way up the blonde's thighs.

Arizona closed her eyes and drew in a breath when she felt one of Callie's fingers graze her clit. "I love you. And now I'm going to eat your pussy" the brunette husked out before leaning down and kissing the inside of a thigh. Callie bit down slightly making the blonde yelp in something between pain and pleasure.

The blonde leaned back on her arms as she felt the brunette's breath wash over her center. And when a soft tongue licked up her slit Arizona let out a small whimper. "Shit you taste so good Arizona" the brunette mumbled right before thrusting her tongue inside the blonde.

Arizona cried out in pleasure as Callie's tongue started massaging her inner walls while pushing in and out of her and a tanned finger kept circling her clit. The brunette was so good at this and it was like Arizona forgot how to breathe for a second.

Callie smiled as her girlfriend seemed to miss a breath and panted a little from the lack of oxygen. The brunette pulled her tongue back and licked the blonde's slit with a flat tongue. "I take it you like it?" Callie playfully asked as she nipped at her girlfriend's thighs never stopping her fingers actions on the engorged nub.

"God yes" Arizona breathed out "keep going!"

The brunette moved her mouth back to her girlfriend's center. She switched her finger for her mouth and sucked the blonde's clit into her mouth softly while she let her tongue glide over the sensitive nub. "Fuck Calliope!" the blonde stated when she opened her eyes to look down at her girlfriend's head resting between her legs. The sight turned Arizona on like nothing she'd ever experienced before and she had to hold back from coming right that second.

Arizona moved one of her hands to brown locks and tenderly let her hand travel through her girlfriend's hair. "God Calliope you're incredible" the blonde groaned out.

The stark contrast between Arizona's soft touch and the raw lust in her voice made moisture seep out into the brunette's bikini bottoms. Callie reached up and forcefully thrusted two fingers inside her girlfriend. The brunette couldn't help but groan at the feeling. "Shit, you're so close already" Callie breathed out as her lips left the blonde's center for a second.

"It's just so fucking hot having you between my legs" Arizona hoarsely said as she gently pushed the brunette's mouth back on her very throbbing clit.

This made the brunette slowly ease a third finger inside Arizona and Callie moaned at the feeling of filling her girlfriend so completely. Then she started quickly flicking her tongue over the blonde's clit. Arizona arched her back and tilted her head back at the sensational feeling.

Callie started thrusting in and out of Arizona's wet opening. She could already feel the blonde's muscles start to contract making it harder for the brunette to push her fingers in and out.

The brunette stopped her flicking on an ivory clit and softly sucked on it. Arizona removed her hand from Callie's hair needing it for support as she felt her other arm start to give out from the pleasure that was currently rushing through her. The blonde was hurtling towards her orgasm and it very quickly became very hard for her to hold it back.

Arizona looked down at her girlfriend and met aroused chocolate brown eyes just as Callie bit down on her clit softly and rammed her fingers all the way inside her wet core. The sight and feeling made Arizona tumble into one of the most powerful orgasms of her life. As soon as it hit she felt Callie reach around and support her back with one arm, holding her upright. And that was a good thing because Arizona's arms turned to jelly in an instant and she opened her mouth in a silent scream as her entire body pulsed in satisfaction. The blonde felt every muscle in her body spasm up and her lungs were screaming for her to breathe. But Arizona couldn't even if she wanted to.

Callie kept sucking her girlfriend's clit gently as she felt Arizona's muscles grab her fingers in a death grip when the blonde came. The way her fingers were sucked in felt much more powerful than ever before and the brunette nearly came herself from the feeling of it. Ages passed but all of a sudden the muscles released her fingers and Arizona drew in a breath as if she'd just been holding her breath while being underwater.

The brunette removed her fingers and mouth from Arizona's center. She cleaned her mouth from the blonde's juices with the back of her hand while looking up at her sated girlfriend. Callie's other hand was still supporting Arizona but the blonde had once again shifted her weight to her hands that rested on the tiles behind her. Her ivory breasts were heaving in her black bra due to her very ragged breathing, she had her eyes closed and her mouth was wide open trying to take in as much oxygen as possible. She was beautiful and the brunette couldn't help but reach up and cup one of the bra clad breasts.

"Mmmmm" the blonde moaned at the touch. She smiled before opening her eyes and looking at Callie. She sat up straight and reached out to stroke a caramel cheek. "That was soooo good" Arizona growled.

The brunette squeezed the breast one last time before removing her hand and putting both of her hands on her girlfriend's hips. "I'm glad. That was kind of the whole purpose of this" Callie said with a loving smile.

The blonde leaned forward and passionately connected her lips with the plump ones of her girlfriend. "Why are you still wearing your bikini?" the blonde sultry whispered as they parted.

The brunette smiled at the blonde. "Well no one took it off me! And I didn't want to assume. You weren't exactly welcoming to this" Callie deadpanned.

Arizona reached around and pulled at the strings of the brunette's bikini on her back. When it was loosened she reached up and pulled at the string behind Callie's neck. The blonde caught the yellow garment as it fell from her girlfriend's body revealing two perfect caramel breasts.

"I changed my mind" Arizona said as she flung the bikini top behind her and leaned down to suck on a brown nipple. Callie moaned very loudly at the feeling. She didn't even realize how much she'd missed the blonde paying special attention to her body until that very moment.

The blonde softly pushed Callie back and let herself slide of the edge of the pool and into the water never letting her lips leave the brunette's chest. Callie reached behind Arizona and undid her bra taking it off and throwing the wed garment off to the side.

Ivory hands made their way to the brunette's bikini bottoms and pulled the strings on either side. She tore the clothing from Callie's body and threw them up on one of the lounge chairs.

Both naked Arizona pulled Callie close to her and moved her lips to Callie's, deepening the kiss. The blonde could taste herself on her girlfriend's lips and the urge to make the brunette scream her name drove Arizona crazy.

The blonde spun them around and pushed the brunette towards deeper waters before moving her to the wall of the pool.

Callie gasped as her back collided with the cool surface of the pool wall. It reached up to the middle of her back and the brunette was surprised because she hadn't even noticed that Arizona had brought her to deeper waters.

Arizona pulled back and looked at her girlfriend. Fire was burning in brown eyes that were now almost black. "I've missed fucking you so much Calliope" the blonde growled as she leaned in to kiss the brunette's breasts. One of her hands made its way to a very rigid nipple while her mouth paid attention to the other one.

The brunette sighed at the feeling and one of her hands went up to tangle in damp blonde locks. The feeling of Arizona sucking her nipple roughly was almost too much to handle for the brunette. "I'm going to need you to…" Callie started.

"I know" the blonde interrupted as she pulled back from her girlfriend's breasts and reached down to guide Callie's glorious brown legs around her waist. She pressed Callie even harder against the wall of the pool and the brunette threw her arms around her girlfriend's neck. Callie whimpered as she felt her center come in contact with her girlfriend's abdomen. Then Callie felt an ivory hand graze her stomach before coming in contact with her very rigid clit.

"Arizona" the brunette cried out in pleasure as a finger started circling her clit slowly.

"I love you" Arizona stated before moving her hand and making her fingers line up in front of Callie's wet core. She trusted two fingers inside the brunette and started building a pace pumping in and out of her girlfriend. The fact that the brunette's waist was engulfed in water made it a whole new experience and Arizona loved feeling the contrast of the luke warm pool water and Callie's hot, sticky, wet center.

Callie whimpered and threw her head back as the blonde picked up her pace. Her back was slammed harder into the pool wall every time the blonde pushed all the way inside her and the brunette had an incling it would bruise. But she couldn't care less. Then the blonde's thumb started grazing the brunette's clit every time Arizona thrusted in and Callie knew she was a goner.

Arizona felt as the first contractions of her girlfriend's inner walls started and the blonde picked up her pace using all of her own weight to back up her thrusts, pushing deeper and harder into her girlfriend. The blonde leaned forward and claimed plump lips in a wet, passionate kiss.

When her orgasm finally hit her Callie tore her lips from Arizona's and gasped for air as she clung to her blonde girlfriend whimpering. Her whole body felt like it was on fire from the sheer pleasure cursing through her veins. Arizona kept the brunette pushed against the pool wall while she slowed her thrusts as Callie rode out her orgasm.

The blonde felt as her girlfriend's inner walls stopped contracting and only a few spasms occurred once in a while. The brunette still clung really tightly to her with her head resting against the side of Arizona's. The blonde could both feel and hear Callie's heavy breathing in her ear. She gently withdrew her fingers from her girlfriends core. "Sex in the pool? One of my new favorite things!" the blonde deadpanned and the brunette chuckled a little at that. Callie still kept a firm grip on her girlfriend. She didn't know why but she didn't feel like letting go.

Arizona started moving with caramel legs still tightly wrapped around her waist. As she started swimming slowly and leisurely around the pool Callie shifted her head and captured pink lips with her own. The kiss started out slow and soft but very but gradually it heated up once more. The blonde moaned very loudly as a fire started building inside her again. She made her way to the side of the pool on more shallow waters and once again pushed her girlfriend against the wall.

Then the blonde moved her hand to her girlfriend's marvelous chest and her fingers instantly sought out a still erect nipple.

"Can you handle more?" the blonde huskily asked her girlfriend when she pulled back from the kiss but continued to pinch her hardened bud.

Callie replied by taking hold of Arizona's neck and crashing their lips together again. She pushed her tongue to meet Arizona's and sucked the blonde's muscle into her own mouth.

Arizona pushed Callie back gently and tore her lips from her girlfriend's to kiss her way down a tanned neck to two caramel mounds.

The brunette tilted her head back, rested her arms against the tiles and moaned as Arizona softly bit down on her nipple while her hand made its way between Callie's thighs.

"Callie? Why weren't you answer…OH MY GOD!" Addison's voice cut through the air like a knife. Arizona shrieked out and quickly jumped up and clung to Callie's front as the brunette quickly rose from her leaned back position catching the blonde that threw her naked self at her.

The brunette turned her head slightly and looked at her red haired friend while she made her way to deeper waters with her girlfriend clinging to her. "Addison what are you doing here?" Callie asked her friend through gritted teeth.

Addison looked at her friend disbelieving before giving her a smug smile. "Well you invited me here! Remember? Arizona is supposed to spend the night with Teddy and her mom and in turn I should spend the night here along with my mother."

Arizona's eyes widened. "Shit! What time is it Addison?"

The red head grinned at the blonde "It's 3.30. And yes, Teddy is pissed. She's been calling you nonstop for the past half hour. But don't worry I'm going to text her that you're busy and will be a little late" the red head said with a wink. "You both should get dressed though because my mother will be here any minute now" Addison finished with a chuckle at the panicked looks on the two naked women in the pool.

Then the red head moved to sit down on one of the lounge chairs as she pulled out her phone to text her soon-to-be wife. "Erhm Addison, would you maybe like something to drink? I've got white wine in the fridge" Callie said with a pointed look towards her friend.

"No thank you. I'm good for now" the red head answered with a small laugh while she looked at her best friend and put her phone back in her pocket.

"Seriously?" the brunette questioned as she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. I think I could use a little sun before our big day tomorrow" the red head said as a big grin spread across her face.

Callie rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath at her best friends present. "Fine." Then the brunette turned her attention to her girlfriend that still clung to her like she'd drown if she let go. "I'm going to carry you over to the edge of the pool. That way you'll be hidden from view by the edge and the wall. I'll go up, put on my bikini and get you a towel now that missy over there has decided she's all of a sudden going to let her pale as a ghost face catch some sun."

Arizona nodded and Callie started making her way to the deep end of the pool that was closest to Addison. When they got there the brunette smiled at her blonde girlfriend. "I'm going to need you to let go of me now." Arizona smiled and started doing at she was told.

She stopped mid action though and pulled Callie to her in a searing kiss. When she pulled back she rested her forehead against the brunette's "I know that you now have to get up from this pool butt naked, but I just need to say that I think it was totally worth that" Arizona said as she pointed towards a smugly grinning Addison.

Callie smiled at her girlfriend. "Me too. I have a feeling we'll be thinking differently though once our relationship is known to the others at 'Heart and Hospital'! We'll never hear the end of it." Then the smiling blonde let go of Callie's neck and the brunette started making her way towards the stairs. As she got there Addison was grinning smugly at her but Callie just returned it as she very slowly made her way up the stairs.

Arizona watched as her stark naked girlfriend made her way towards her bikini. She picked up first her bottoms and then her bra and stopped in front of the red head still completely naked. "Someday I WILL get you back for this Addison Montgomery."

Addison chuckled as she looked up at her friend. "Maybe next time set some sort of alarm. I mean I could just as easily have been my mother."

Callie started putting on her bikini. "I think I might would have preferred that!"

Then the brunette made her way into the house to get a towel for her still naked and swimming girlfriend.

"So" Arizona started as she looked up at the red head from her hiding spot in the pool. "How pissed is Teddy?"

Addison shrugged her shoulders. "It wasn't that bad" then she added chuckling "but then I texted her that you were late because you were doing VERY dirty things to Callie and now she's mad and sending me texts about the possibility of getting a new maid of honor before tomorrow."

Arizona rolled her eyes. Her honey-blonde friend had turned into quite the drama queen as the wedding approached.

Callie came back out and beckoned for her girlfriend to come to the stairs of the pool. Arizona did as she was asked and climbed the stairs and into the waiting towel Callie held open to shield the blonde from curious grey-blue eyes.

The brunette engulfed the blonde in the towel and kissed pink lips lovingly. "Go shower and get dressed. I'll wait."

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend and walked in to the house.

* * *

Arizona knocked at Teddy and Addison's apartment door. The honey-blonde opened the door with the chain still on. The blonde rolled her eyes. "Let me in Teddy!"

"Don't you dare roll your eyes at me Robbins. You were supposed to be here at 3! You're more than an hour late Arizona" Teddy stated while aiming piercing green eyes at her.

Arizona sighed. "I'm sorry Teds. I just…It had been almost a month and a half since Callie and I last had any form of intimacy. We got a little carried away and while it was all kinds of great then I am sorry it made me late getting here."

Teddy squinted her eyes at her friend. Then she closed the door and the blonde could hear the chain being removed. Then the door opened revealing Teddy completely to Arizona. The blonde smiled and moved forward to hug the honey-blonde. "I can't wait for tomorrow to come Teds!" Arizona said with a smile.

"God me neither. I can't believe it. I'm so incredibly happy Arizona. Happier than I ever thought possible!" Teddy replied.

Then the honey-blonde pulled back and slapped her friend's arm. "And I can't believe you lost track of time while doing God knows what to Callie. She is hot I get that but you're a terrible maid of honor!"

Arizona smiled smugly at her friend. "Well I'm sure it was nothing that you haven't done to Addison."

A clearing of a throat made the blonde's smile falter instantly. Teddy laughed at the expression on her friend's face and closed the door to reveal an older honey-blonde woman sitting at the dining table.

Blue eyes widened as Arizona took in the other woman. Even if she wanted to this woman couldn't hide the fact that she was Teddy's mother. The woman smiled at Arizona and stood from her chair. She reached her hand out towards the blonde. "You must be Arizona. I'm Marjorie. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

Arizona smiled and took the offered hand. "It's nice to meet you too. Sorry about my late arrival" the blonde apologized.

Marjorie chuckled. "It's okay. I understand. And so does Teddy because I have been left waiting for her and Addison more than once. Right honey?" the older honey-blonde said as she turned to face her daughter.

Teddy face palmed herself. "You weren't supposed to tell her that, mom. Geez let her sweat for a while."

Marjorie put her arm around Arizona's shoulder. "From what you've told me, she's been an amazing friend to you this past year. You should give her a break."

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret inviting the both of you here tonight!" the young honey-blonde stated.

Marjorie laughed and let go of Arizona. "You girls go sit down then I'll get you the champagne."

Teddy and Arizona made their way to the couch. They sat in silence and the blonde couldn't help but smile as a big smile slowly spread on Teddy's face. Then green eyes met with blue. "I seriously can't believe I'm going to marry her tomorrow. I just…I can't even explain how I'm feeling properly. But I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her."

The blonde smiled at her friend. "Just one more night Teds. And then she's all yours."

* * *

I'm getting MARRIED tomorrow Cal!" Addison said in disbelief as she sipped the white wine Callie had served her when Arizona had left and the brunette herself was going to grab a really quick shower. Now Callie was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a green tank top that had big wet spots from her hair that was flowing freely down her back and shoulders.

"You are" Callie said as she smiled big at her best friend. "And I'm so happy for you Addison!"

The red head twirled the wine around in her glass. "Sometimes I still can't believe she said yes. That such an extraordinary and amazing woman wants to be with me!" Addison said as she shook her head a little.

The brunette moved to sit next to her friend on the couch. "You're pretty great yourself Addison. Teddy is a very lucky lady."

The red head smiled at her friend and tilted her head to rest on Callie's shoulder. "Can you believe that a year ago you were miserable and I was about to start an epically stupid fight over children with Teddy that actually ended in her leaving me?"

Callie shook her head softly. "No." Then she smiled. "And while it was one of the hardest times of my life I wouldn't trade it for anything because it the reason I ended up where I am today" the brunette finished.

Addison looped her arm through Callie's. "I'm so glad you're happy again Cal. She's really good for you."

"Thank you Addison" Callie said. "But enough about me. What do you want to do on your last night as an unmarried woman?"

The red head pulled back and looked at the brunette with a smile on her face. "I would really like to just enjoy some wine, possibly a drink, with you while I gosh over my beautiful and amazing wife-to-be. We'll make my mom cook dinner!"

Callie laughed. "Make your mom cook dinner? Like that'll ever happen!"

Addison joined the brunette in her laughing. "I know. But a girl can dream right? She can order take out for us!"

The brunette was about to reply when the sound of the doorbell resonated in the house. "Speaking of the devil" Addison said with a crooked smile.

"Stop it Ads. She's not that bad" Callie said as she made her way out to the door. "Hello Beatrice" the brunette said as she opened the door to her friend's mother.

Beatrice Montgomery smiled at Callie. "Hello Callie. Thank you for having us" the woman said as she moved inside the house.

Addison stood from her seat on the couch and greeted her mother. "Hi."

Beatrice moved to the young red head and put her arms around her hugging her tightly. Addison's eyes widened in surprise before she relaxed and hugged her mother back. "I'm so happy for you Addison. Teddy is such a wonderful woman. You couldn't have done better for yourself" the older woman tenderly said.

"Thank you" Addison murmured into her mother's neck. She couldn't remember the last time her mother hugged her.

Beatrice pulled back. "Now where's the wine?"

Callie reentered the living room with a wineglass in hand. "Way ahead of you Beatrice. Here you go" the brunette said as she handed it to the other woman.

Beatrice smiled at Callie. "Thank you. Because we really need to toast to my daughter's happiness" the older woman said as the brunette poured wine in her glass.

* * *

Callie woke as a sharp elbow was pushed into her ribs. "Ouch Ads" the brunette said and rubbed her side.

"Sorry" the red head stated and reached for her phone that had dinged twice since the brunette woke up.

Addison rubbed her eyes while unlocking her phone. She chuckled and handed her phone to Callie.

The brunette took it from her friend and looked at it. It was a couple of minutes past 8 in the morning. As Callie scrolled on the phone she discovered that Addison had received no less than 7 texts from Teddy in the past hour and a half.

 _*Good morning gorgeous. I hope you had a lot of fun with Callie and your mother yesterday. God Addi I can't wait to marry you! I love you. – your soon-to-be-wife_

 _*WE'RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY ADDISON! Shit I can't believe it. I'm so happy. I love you. - Teddy_

 _*…by the way I really missed you last night! I don't sleep well without you. – Teddy_

 _*I don't think you really know how much I love you! Thank you so much for agreeing to be mine. - Teddy_

 _*Why aren't you answering? Please tell me you're not still sleeping! We're getting married in six and a half hours and I've been up at the buttcrack of dawn to make myself look all kinds of beautiful and you're just snoozing away still?! - Teddy_

 _*Seriously Addison?! I know you're all kinds of beautiful every day with perfect hair and a flawless face but today of all days you could make an extra effort! - TA_

 _*GET THE HELL OUT OF BED! AND TEXT ME BACK WOMAN! – TA_

The brunette chuckled and handed the phone back to Addison. "Well you better text her back telling her that you've in fact been up for hours but that you didn't have your phone with you while getting your perfect hair done even more perfect for your big day! She switched to signing with initials only. That can't be good" Callie deadpanned.

The red head chuckled and started texting her fiancé back. "I don't even know why she's up so fucking early. I mean the wedding is in SIX HOURS Callie! There's plenty of time!"

Callie laughed. "I'm so glad I got to be best friends with you and not her. I'd so not be here if you got up that many hours before the wedding. What the hell were we supposed to do with our time?" the brunette questioned

Addison put her phone down as she finished her text and looked at her friend. "I'm glad you really appreciate our friendship and the time you and I get to spend together" the red head said jokingly. "Your poor girlfriend isn't that lucky though. Teddy's probably forced her to wait on her hand and foot all morning."

The brunette laughed. "Well don't worry about that. She's used to getting up way earlier than anyone should ever get up. She'll be fine" Callie finished just as Addison's phone dinged.

The red head picked it up and unlocked it to read her text. She smiled and handed her phone to Callie "Fixed it!"

The brunette looked at the screen and smiled.

 _*Good morning my wonderful, amazing soon-to-be-wife! I've just woken up happier than ever. Because today I get to marry you. And I WILL make an extra effort Teddy but my attempts will be futile because you, my love, will outshine me in every possible way today. I can't wait to see you. I adore you honey. You're the most important thing in my life! Oh and I'm looking forward to you angry-texting me with your new initials TAM…hot! ;) – Your Addi_

 _*I can't wait to see you either. And you're the most important thing in my life too. I'm sorry I angry texted you. You'll no doubt look really beautiful. In fact you could have slept until half an hour before our wedding and you'd still be unbelievably gorgeous. I need 2 o'clock to get here soon. – With love Teddy_

Callie handed the phone back to Addison. "Well we better get up and get started. We don't want to disappoint your woman."

The red head smiled at the brunette. "Let's go."

* * *

"You look really, really beautiful Teddy. Addison's not going to know what hit her" Arizona said with a big bright smile at her friend.

The honey-blonde smiled back at her friend "Thank you. You really think she'll like it?"

Arizona looked at her friend. Teddy was wearing an Ellie Saab wedding dress that had a lace see through long-sleeved bodice with lace strategically placed to cover her breasts. At the waist it had a satin band separating the top from the bottom that was made of layers of silk that flowed freely. It had a slit going up at one side revealing one of her long legs. Her hair was done in a casual bun type thing at the base of her neck with her vail secured underneath it and a white rose above. She was breathtaking.

"She'll love it Teds. No doubt about it" the blonde sincerely stated.

The honey-blonde smiled gratefully at her friend. "Is she here yet?"

Arizona nodded her head. "She is. I haven't seen her though. I only talked to Callie. Who looks smoking hot in her dress by the way." The blonde almost groaned at the thought of her girlfriend. The brunette was wearing a tight deep purple sculptured dress that was very feminine but still had that sort of a 'best man' look to it. Her hair was loose, straightened and pushed to one side.

Teddy chuckled at her friend. "So keeping your hands off her is going to be hard?"

"The worst" the blonde stated with a small sigh.

"You can do it today if you want to, you know. We won't mind" Teddy gently said.

Arizona shook her head. "We are not using your wedding as some sort of coming out event. Today is your day. And we're here to celebrate your love. Callie and I can wait."

Just that moment Teddy's dad, Ben, came into the tent. The wedding was happening in a big mansion just outside the hustle and bustle of LA. Teddy and Addison would get married in the big yard next to a beautiful artificial lake and then the reception and party would take place inside the mansion.

"Are you ready honey?" the father asked his daughter with a big smile.

Teddy's smile got impossibly big. "Like you wouldn't believe" the honey-blonde breathed out.

Ben turned his attention to Arizona. "You're wanted out there. Addison is more than ready to get this thing started." The blonde chuckled, reached out and squeezed Teddy's upper arm softly before making her way out the tent. She came face to face with her girlfriend the second she stepped out. The brunette once again let her brown orbs travel up and down the blonde's body before locking them on blue eyes.

Callie swore she missed a breath every time her girlfriend came into view. She looked undeniably beautiful in her light purple dress. It was a flowing one shoulder dress and with her hair done in a loose braided up do the brunette thought she looked like someone belonging in a fairytale.

The brunette couldn't help but turn slightly towards Arizona. She reached out and brushed some invisible lint of the blonde's bare shoulder. "You take my breath away" Callie whispered before turning her attention forward once again as the music began playing.

The brunette made her way smiling down the aisle. She caught Mark's gaze on her way and winked at him and Andrew that were sitting close together on one of the rows. Then Arizona made her way down the aisle. She smiled and looked at some of the guests but mostly her eyes kept coming back to her girlfriend. Who was very busy looking at Mark though. The blonde was a little put off by that but she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to walk down the aisle with her dad by her side to her gorgeous girlfriend waiting there for her in a stunning white wedding dress. The thought almost made her want to burst out in tears.

Callie knew she needed to look away from the blonde moving to come and stand opposite of her. She was so in love with Arizona in this moment that it made her want to drop down on one knee and propose to her in an instant. And beside it not being the time nor the place to do that it was WAY too soon. So Callie kept her eyes on Mark and Andrew. And Meredith and Derek who were sitting right in front of the two men.

Then the music shifted and Addison appeared at the end of the aisle with her father by her side. Callie once again smiled at the sight of her best friend. The red head wore a strapless tight fitted Zuhair Murad wedding dress. It was lace all the way down but kept very simple and with a small trail at the end. Her red hair was in a tight and very classy up do. The two brides had opted to go for similar bouquets and they were a mix of white, light purple and deep purple flowers.

Addison reached the small podium and exhaled loudly as she smiled at Callie. "I'm suddenly very, very nervous Cal. I just want her to get here and make her mine!" the red head whispered.

The brunette smiled and looked behind Addison just as Teddy appeared. "Turn around Ads" Callie softly stated.

The red head turned around and tears instantly sprung to her eyes as she watched her honey-blonde love make her way down the aisle towards her. Teddy's dad, Ben, let his daughter step up next to Addison, leaned in and kissed the red head's cheek softly. "I'm not going to give her away to you today Addison. Because she's been yours for a while already" the man tenderly said before moving to sit down next to his wife.

Addison couldn't take her eyes of Teddy. The honey-blonde smiled and reached over to softly wipe away the lone tear that had made its way down the red head's cheek before cupping it tenderly. "You are so incredibly beautiful Teddy" Addison gently whispered. "I can't believe I ever got this lucky." The red head closed her eyes and enjoyed the honey-blonde's touch.

Teddy smiled and leaned in to place her forehead against Addison's. "And you are all kinds of gorgeous. I've never been more sure that you're it for me than I am right now Addi. I love you" the blonde breathed out.

A soft clearing of the throat made the two brides tear their attention from each other and towards the woman officiating the wedding. "Are you ready ladies?" she softly asked.

Addison reached up and grabbed Teddy's hand in her own. "Yes. Let's do this before she changes her mind" the red head let out with a wink at the honey-blonde.

* * *

The ceremony had been absolutely beautiful. Teddy and Addison had decided that their vows should consist of a love poem that they each thought symbolized their love for one another. Callie had to wipe away a tear more than once mostly due to the all-consuming look of happiness that never left her best friend's face. Arizona had been one big smile on the other side through the whole thing.

While Teddy and Addison had their wedding photos taken refreshments had been served. The brunette had brought Arizona a glass of champagne and had toasted to love while gazing in her girlfriend's mesmerizing blue eyes.

Then the guests had been asked to take a seat and the band had for the first time announced 'Mrs. and mrs. Altman Montgomery'.

The starters had been served, almost eaten and now the red head bride had just tapped on her glass signaling that she'd like to make a toast.

"My dearest, sweetest Teddy" Addison started while giving her undivided attention to the honey-blonde and instantly green eyes filled with tears as Teddy reached her hand out for Addison to take. "It's actually quite pointless that I'm standing here trying to express my love for you because no words will ever be enough to describe how happy you've made me today, honey" the red head said as she smiled lovingly at her new wife.

"I do know though that I won't be making YOU very happy if I don't at least try, so I'm going to give it a shot" Addison deadpanned making the guests chuckle.

The red head squeezed the hand that was clasped around her own. "Theodora Maria Altman Montgomery. God that's probably the greatest name I've ever heard" Addison breathed out as she got a little sidetracked for a second. "The first time I met you was when you auditioned for the part on 'Heart and Hospital'. You were beautiful, funny, smart, talented…and not interested in me at all!" Their guests laughed and Teddy threw Addison a dazzling smile.

"But from your very first day on set I was so incredibly smitten with you. I couldn't keep away from you even if I wanted to. I was helplessly drawn to you like a moth to a flame. And even though we can both agree that my first attempt at flirting with you was absolutely horrible, somewhere along the way I somehow managed to charm my way to your heart. And I can say with certainty that it's the one place in this world I never ever want to leave" the red head said with a voice laced with love and devotion.

Addison closed her eyes for a second and drew in a breath. "Being with me is far from easy. And I'm painfully aware that I sometimes manage to make it very hard to love me. But just know that every day when I wake up with your beautiful face next to mine it makes me want to strive to do better. For you. All I ever want to do is make you happy. Every single day for the rest of our lives" the red head said with a small crack to her voice as she looked at her bride who had silent tears trickling down her cheeks.

The red head reached out and lovingly cupped the honey-blonde's cheek marveling in the way her new wedding band glistened on her finger. "Thank you Teddy. For being patient with me when yet another issue arises in our relationship making me freak out and handling it all like an idiot. For holding me tightly and making everything else around us fade away when I'm too stressed to see things clearly in the middle of shooting the season. For telling and showing me that you think I'm wrong when I get a panic attack in front of the mirror because traces of my age can be seen on my body making me insufficient to you on yet another level. For being the most caring, amazing and beautiful woman I've ever met. And thank you for saying yes today and making my heart beat in ways of happiness it never has before. I love you beyond words" Addison said and removed her hand from Teddy's face.

The red head cleared her throat and turned her attention towards her mother and father in law. "I need to thank you too Marjorie and Ben. You've been so incredibly welcoming to me as a part of Teddy's life. I know it must have been a bit of a shock that she brought home a woman but you've never been anything but loving and positive towards me and my presence in your family and I'm unbelievably thankful for that. I couldn't wish for better in-laws. And thank you for granting this world with such a wonderful woman. She's the center of my universe and I promise to love her every day for the rest of my life."

Addison grabbed her glass and looked out at the guests before locking her eyes on the honey-blonde's. "I would like to make a toast. To the most gorgeous bride this world has ever seen. To Teddy."

As soon as the toast was over the honey-blonde shot from her chair and pulled Addison to her in a tight hug. "I love you so much" Teddy breathed out against Addison's cheek. "I don't even…fuck I just love you so much!" the honey-blonde stated. Then Teddy pulled back a little and kissed her wife with all the love she could muster.

Addison pulled back and locked her grey-blue eyes with sparkling green orbs that shone with such happiness. The red head stroked the honey-blonde's cheek with the back of her hand. "I hope you'll always be this happy to be with me Teddy" Addison breathed out.

The honey-blonde smiled and leaned in to her wife's touch. "I will. I'm not delusional. I know there will be hard times. And I know that we'll scream and yell at each other. But even then I'll be exactly as happy that you're mine as I am today."

Addison leaned forward and rested her forehead against Teddy's. "You're so perfect" the red head sighed.

Callie looked at her best friend and her wife who enjoyed a private moment in front of all of their guests. The love and happiness poured from both women and the brunette instantly thought back to her own wedding day.

Callie turned her head and couldn't help but smile a little as she looked at Mark who was in deep conversation with Amelia sitting across from him. His hand rested on the table intertwined with Andrew's. Her and Mark's wedding day had been amazing. They had planned the whole thing together just the two of them and it had made for the wedding of their dreams. As if her ex-husband could feel chocolate brown eyes rest on him he turned his head and caught Callie's gaze. The brunette smiled a little sadly at him and the Mark returned it.

Then the brunette picked up her glass and took a sip of her wine. When she looked up curious blue eyes were observing her from the other end of the table. Callie smiled at her girlfriend but the blonde just furrowed her brows a little before turning her attention back to her food. The brunette pulled out her phone from her clutch. She knew it was kind of inappropriate but she needed to know what made the blonde furrow her brows like that. Callie had a feeling it had something to do with her.

 _*What's wrong? – Callie_

The brunette kept her attention on Arizona when the blonde reached for her clutch as she felt it vibrate on the table. She discretely checked her phone before zipping the clutch back up and turning her attention back to the conversation taking place between Jo and Alex.

The brunette looked questioningly at the blonde and really hoped to catch her gaze. Blue eyes briefly turned to hers and Callie knew she looked a little annoyed when her eyes connected with her girlfriend's. Arizona quickly averted her eyes from Callie's when Jo clearly addressed Arizona. But the brunette couldn't help but keep looking at the blonde.

Callie's staring at her girlfriend was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. The brunette turned her head around and looked up at Mark. The man smiled before leaning down, throwing his arms around Callie's shoulder from behind and resting his cheek against the brunette's. Callie couldn't help but notice how rough his cheek felt with small barely visible stubbles. "It's still the happiest day of my life Cal. No one will ever be as beautiful to me as you were that day. And I'll always love you."

The brunette closed her eyes at Mark's words and let herself enjoy being engulfed by those strong arms for just a second. "Thank you" she croaked out as she felt a kiss being placed on her cheek. Mark squeezed her one last time before removing himself from her again.

Callie turned her attention to the other end of the table and her girlfriend. But the blonde's seat was empty. The brunette scanned the room for any signs of her girlfriend but she was nowhere to be seen. Amelia caught Callie's gaze and mouthed a 'bathroom' to her. The brunette smiled thankfully and got out of her chair.

The brunette knocked on the door when she reached the bathroom. "Arizona? It's me. Open the door" Callie said. Nothing happened and the brunette knocked a little harder. "You might as well let me in! You know I'm just going to stand out here waiting for you to come out anyway."

A few seconds passed but then the lock on the door clicked. Callie opened it and made her way inside the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and switched the lock again. The blonde was standing by the sink leaning her back against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her.

The brunette knew now wasn't the time but she couldn't help but notice how that particular stance made the blonde's cleavage pop in the most delicious of ways in her light purple dress.

Callie's eyes found blue ones that were looking at her intensely. "What's going on Arizona?" the brunette asked and stepped closer to her girlfriend.

The blonde sighed and looked at the floor. Then blue eyes once again found brown ones. "I've spent the entire day imagining our wedding" Arizona tenderly said. But her voice had a bite to it that Callie couldn't place.

"Really?" the brunette asked as her face split in a big smile. The blonde nodded her head but didn't really look happy. "Is that not a good thing?" Callie hesitantly asked.

"It would be" Arizona firmly said "if you hadn't spent the entire day thinking of you and Mark's wedding!"

The brunette furrowed her brows at that. "What?"

The blonde moved her hands to rub at her temples. "You've been eyeing him all day! And I get that this has got to bring back some memories but it makes me feel really stupid. Because I can't get the picture of you in a wedding dress out of my mind. All the while you spend your day thinking about your wedding to your ex-husband" Arizona finished as she moved her gaze to the floor in front of her.

Callie moved to her slightly pouting girlfriend. She grabbed the blonde's chin and forced Arizona to look at her. "That's seriously what you think? That I spent my entire day thinking about my wedding with Mark?" When she didn't receive an answer the brunette sighed and removed her hand from Arizona's chin.

"I don't know where all this insecurity towards Mark is coming from all of a sudden. And while it is true that just now, at the table, I did have a flashback to my wedding day with him then it's definitely not true that I've spent my entire day thinking about my wedding with him" Callie breathed out.

The brunette reached out and pulled the blonde close to her by her waist. "From the second Addison and I started preparing for the day this morning my thoughts have circled around how I'm going to persuade you to put on a stunning white dress and meet me at the end of that aisle. And when I saw you walk towards me I swear I almost proposed to you right there and then. I love YOU Arizona. I don't want to go back to being married to Mark if that's what you're worried about. I'm with you now. And I'm so, so happy about that."

The blonde looked up at the brunette. "You were with Mark for ten years. I'm worried that I won't measure up to him" Arizona honestly stated.

Callie smiled softly at the blonde. "Honey please don't do that. You don't have to measure up to anything. I'm not comparing my relationship with you to the one with Mark. It's been five months of you and me as a couple and they've been amazing."

The blonde leaned in and put her head on Callie's shoulder while ivory arms snaked around the brunette's waist. "You look really hot today" Arizona softly said before placing a kiss on her girlfriend's neck.

"And you look stunning. Are we good?" Callie asked.

The blonde nodded her head. "Yeah."

Then the brunette untangled herself from Arizona. "Great. And now we need to go back out there. Because you need to make your bridesmaids toast soon. And then I need to wow people with an even better bridesmaids toast" Callie deadpanned.

Arizona hit Callie playfully on the shoulder. "Hey! I'm very, very good at making speeches Calliope."

The brunette just smiled smugly at her girlfriend. "Yeah? Well I grew up a Torres. We were forced to take lessons in public speaking. So bring it on, Robbins."

The blonde pulled Callie towards her. "Oh I will." Then Arizona leaned in until their faces were only inches apart. "I'm going to kiss you very carefully now as to not smear our lipstick."

Callie smiled and nodded her head. "Please do."

Pink lips pressed against plump ones very tenderly in a lingering kiss. "I love you too" Arizona breathed out when they parted.

The brunette smiled. "Let's get out of here before Addison and Teddy thinks we're in here doing naughty bridesmaids things to each other on their wedding day."

Arizona smiled back and pecked plump lips again. "They'll live. But we should get back before anyone else starts to wonder where we are." The blonde reached up and drew her finger down a caramel cheek. "I can't wait until I get to hold your hand and kiss you whenever I want at things like this."

Callie grabbed an ivory hand and kissed the palm. "Me neither my love! Me neither."

 **That's it for chapter 31! I hope you liked it**

 **As always: let me know what you thought of it.**

 **Lost of love /Julie**


	32. Chapter 32

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Oh my God, I feel like such a horrible person! :O So, so, so sorry for keeping you waiting this long. A lot of things have been happening in my life – all good don't worry – among those something completely AMAZING in my immediate family that made everything else leave my head. There definitely wasn't room for English grammar making it impossible for me to read through this chapter one last time before posting it. And then this site definitely thinks it needs to punish me for being so bad at getting my ass together and get my chapters uploaded so it refused to let me post AGAIN :P And on top of it all this is a short chapter. I'm really sorry about that! I hope to get to upload the next one tomorrow or Monday – but I make no promises! ;)**

 **Of course I've been watching the Olympics a lot too – I was actually up all night to watch the Danish men's handball team slay against Poland in a VERY exciting semifinal! :O Denmark in geneal has been doing really, really well at these Olympics and I'm so proud of all of our athletes – granted they could have won more gold, but I can live with silver and bronze too seeing as we're such a small nation! :D**

 **To Jamaicangreys: I'm really happy that you see it that way!**

 **To palmettocalzona: I'm glad you liked it! ;P**

 **To srock: Lol – well then I know you found it hot because your weather definitely is! And I never really thought about writing a fic with the story from Addison and Teddy's point of view, but maybe I'll do that someday :)**

 **To RedMist0458: HAPPY VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY! :D I hope you had a great day and were spoiled in all kinds of ways.**

 **To RunningOnSunshine94: I'm really glad you liked it. And I'm totally with you on that one – I've always loved it when Teddy and Addison got paired up too! ;) I don't know why but they just seem to fit so well together to me.**

 **To And24Trina: Be patient! ;) It's not that far away…**

 **To jolynn15: I'm glad :) And all of you have really made me consider doing another one. I love the fact that you guys are so nice and react so well to my story.**

 **To AZsgirl: Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't ;) Either way it's sorted out. And you'll just have to wait and find out. But going public is not that far away I can tell you that :D**

 **To FFChik: WELCOME! :) And I'm glad you're enjoying it ;)**

 **To mientosz: Well maybe she really liked what she saw ;) But maybe Callie and Arizona will be more careful the next time :D**

 **To calliearizona1fan: Thank you for your kind words! And so, so sorry for the delay to all of you. But here it is – chapter 32 :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Happy reading! :D**

CHAPTER 32:

"Mmmmmm" Callie moaned out softly into her pillow as she was roused from her sleep when a smooth, naked body lay down on top of her own. A soft kiss was placed at the base of her neck before the brunette felt Arizona put her cheek down to rest on the back of her bare shoulder.

"Good morning" the blonde tenderly said and inhaled the scent of her girlfriend. "I really don't want to get up" Arizona then softly added.

Callie smiled. "Good morning. What time is it?" the brunette rasped out.

The blonde sighed and turned her head to once again place a kiss on her girlfriend's soft skin. "Close to 8"

"Then we can stay here a little longer" the brunette said as she tried to turn around on her back. But the blonde's weight was keeping her down.

"I don't want to stay here 'a little longer'. I want to stay here all day" Arizona tenderly breathed out.

Callie chuckled. "We spent God knows how many hours here yesterday night Arizona. We even skipped dinner."

"7 hours and 9 minutes! Give and take a little" the blonde stated.

"You're just making that up" the brunette said with a small chuckle.

Arizona lovingly leaned up and kissed a tanned neck. "I'm not. You got back here from Las Vegas at 5 pm. I'm guessing I probably had you naked in here by 5.08. And then you said that we needed to go to sleep at 12.17. 7 hours and 9 minutes!" the blonde said with a small crack to her voice.

Callie frowned at the emotions in her girlfriend's voice and struggled a little harder against the blonde's weight to turn around. When Arizona could feel that the brunette wasn't giving up the fight she rose herself a little on her arms to make it possible for her girlfriend to turn on her back.

Worried brown eyes locked on wet blue ones. "What's happening here Arizona?"

The blonde leaned down and pressed pink lips to velvety, plump ones in a soft kiss. "I've just missed you that's all" Arizona breathed out when they parted.

Callie reached up and gently placed a few blonde strands behind an ivory ear. "It's only been five days since Teddy and Addison's wedding hot stuff. We saw each other then."

"I know" Arizona said with a small nod of her head "but that doesn't really count because I had to look at you from across the room for an entire day and then we only spent the night together before you had to go back to Nevada the next day" the blonde stated as her eyes filled with tears once again. "And if we get up now it means that we're closer to you having to go back to Las Vegas – AGAIN – tonight. You're only even here because of the Emmy Nominations coming out today."

The brunette had no idea what to do or say to make her clearly emotional girlfriend feel better. "Arizona I'm not just here for the Emmy Nominations. Then I could have waited to get here until today. We don't have to be at the set until 2 o'clock I could have easily made that. I'm here for you too. You're not the only one missing her girlfriend" Callie said and cupped an ivory cheek.

The blonde lowered herself back onto Callie and sighed softly when their naked fronts collided and two caramel arms wrapped around her as she lay her head down on a tanned chest. "I'm sorry. I just hate that you have to be away that much. I feel like most of the time we get to spend together is spent sleeping."

The brunette stroked her girlfriend's back. "I'm really sorry it has to be like this Arizona. But it's only going to be a couple of months until the movie is done."

"It's not your fault. You're just doing your job." The blonde sighed. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Callie shifted and forced Arizona to look up at her. "No don't be! I'm glad you're voicing how you're feeling. You should always do that. And I hate that I have to be away that much too."

The blonde smiled "I think it's just because it's been hiatus and all. We've been away from each other a lot and I can't wait until things go back to normal" Arizona breathed out.

The brunette smiled back. "Me neither hot stuff. And I promise you that we get to spend the next hiatus together."

"Really?" the blonde asked with uncertainty.

Callie frowned again. Then she flipped them over securing the blonde underneath her. Brown eyes locked in on blue ones. "When you doubt me when I say something like that I'm getting a little nervous and feeling a little disheartened Arizona. Because I don't even doubt for a second that we're together in a year. Or going to spend our hiatus together. Next year we're going to visit both our parents and possibly take your parents, Tim and Amanda somewhere nice like you did this year. Because I'd really like to tag along on a Robbins family vacation" the brunette softly said.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "I really like the sound of that. And please don't be worried or feel disheartened. It's just…sometimes I still feel all kinds of amazed by the fact that you want to be with me. I love you Callie. I don't ever want you to wake up and realize that I wasn't what you dreamed of."

The brunette leaned down and brushed her lips lightly over pink ones. "That won't happen anytime soon. I doubt it'll ever happen. You're the only thing I dream of." Then Callie tenderly pressed her lips to her girlfriend's. Arizona instantly parted her lips letting the brunette's tongue find her own. The blonde sighed at the feeling. It was like she didn't really know how much she loved the brunette until every time the other woman kissed Arizona.

When they parted Callie rested her forehead against the blonde's. "I love you. And I hate that I have to leave you and go back to Las Vegas tonight. But I have every intention of enjoying every little second I've got with you. So join me in the shower?" the brunette gently asked.

Arizona pecked plump lips. "I'll always want to join you in the shower."

* * *

It was five to 2 and Arizona was walking through the doors to the studio. Callie had already arrived. She'd left the apartment a couple of minutes before the blonde. To be honest Arizona hadn't really wanted to go. She'd really hated when they got the mail saying that everyone that was back from vacation were invited to watch the Emmy Nominations at the studio. Rumors had it that both Callie and Meredith would be bringing home nominations for their work. And the blonde really wanted to share that with the brunette. But she would have preferred to be alone with Callie and be able to congratulate her properly.

Arizona made her way through the doors to the conference room and found that all of her co-stars were present apart from Teddy that was still on her honeymoon with Addison. Table read started again next week and shooting started the week after that so the blonde figured that was probably why most of them were already back from their vacations. A few crew members had also made it there among those Petra and Lydia from the make-up department. Arizona smiled at the two women in greeting and looked around the room.

Her co-stars were scattered all over the room talking and catching up. Arizona liked how happy and in good spirits they all seemed to be and she looked forward to hearing what they'd all been up to this summer.

Blue eyes instantly sought out Callie who was standing off to the side talking to Andrew and Nathan. Nathan had his hand on the small of the brunette's back and Arizona had to mentally tell herself to calm down at the sight.

The blonde turned and caught Amelia's gaze. The brunette smiled at her before making her way to Arizona. "Hi. How was your summer?"

Arizona smiled back. "It was really good. I spent a lot of time with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend. I really enjoyed that. I'd missed them. You?"

"It was great. Owen and I went to Greece. Such a beautiful country. Then we hung out with Meredith and Derek helping them with the house" Amelia then looked around for a second before looking back at Arizona. "Did you get to spend time with a special someone?"

The blonde felt her smile falter a little. "I did. But not even close to as much as I wanted" Arizona softly stated.

"I'm sorry" Amelia knowingly said as she reached out and put a comforting hand on the blonde's arm.

Arizona sighed. "And now she's standing over there with Nathan's hand on her and I just hate that I have to stand here looking at that."

Amelia smiled in understanding. "I get why that is hard Arizona. Have you guys talked about telling people about the two of you."

The blonde nodded her head. "Yeah. We actually told both of our families during hiatus. Now we just need to figure out how and when we tell the rest of the world."

"Really? How did that go?" Amelia asked.

Arizona smiled at her. "It went great. Well apart from with one of her sisters. She freaked out about it but luckily she came around."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad she came around though" Amelia softly said.

"Hi guys" the sound of April's voice startled Arizona a little.

The blonde turned and faced the ginger woman. "Hi April. How are things?" Arizona asked with a smile.

"They are great" April answered. "Jackson and I spent most of the summer apart so it's just really good to finally get back home. Things are feeling a little more back to normal now."

Arizona smiled at April but she couldn't help but feel a small tug at her heart at those words. She envied the ginger that the end of hiatus meant that her daily life and her blossoming romance with Jackson was back to normal. Callie would be insanely busy for the next couple of months with both having to finish the movie and start shooting the next season of 'Heart and Hospital' and Arizona had her doubts that she'd get to spend time with the brunette at all.

The blonde had to mentally tell herself to pull it together as the thought of practically not spending any time with her girlfriend made tears well in her eyes. And as if on cue Callie appeared next to her. "Hey! How was your summer?" the brunette asked the women. She sent the blonde a worried glance but Arizona just smiled in return.

"It was really good" April answered. "What about you? And are you excited to know if you'll get nominated?"

Callie smiled at the ginger woman. She didn't miss the look on Arizona's face and she desperately wanted to know what was going on but she couldn't really ask her about it right now. "It was really good too. Spend a lot of time in Las Vegas but I definitely took some time to do some fun things too." Then she looked at Arizona and Amelia as she took advantage of the situation and reached out to put her hand on the blonde's arm giving it a little squeeze. "It's about to start. We should join the others."

Arizona and Amelia nodded and Callie removed her hand again as the four women made their way to the back of the room along with the rest of the cast and crew.

As they all stood there ready for the nominations to be announced Callie leaned in towards her girlfriend. "Are you okay?" the brunette tenderly whispered as she looked into blue eyes.

Arizona smiled back at her concerned looking girlfriend. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm fine." Callie kept her eyes trained on the blonde until the host and hostess of the nomination ceremony appeared on the screen.

"Welcome to the Emmy Nominations" the hostess announced. "And I can guarantee that we've got a few surprises for you today so stick around!"

The male host took over. "And I suggest we get right to it. First category is 'Outstanding lead actress in a drama series'."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Meredith who just kept her eyes trained on the screen. Derek put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his body.

"The first nominee is Mia Burnett for her part in 'Higher Grounds'." Callie didn't listen to a word the host was saying after he revealed the name. She kept glancing at Arizona who had a somewhat strange expression in her eyes. The brunette really wanted to make her feel better but she had no idea how. It's not like they could just leave the room. Callie slowly reached out and grabbed Arizona's hand in her own. Everyone had their eyes turned on the screen anyway so the brunette figured it wouldn't be a risk.

When the caramel hand closed around an ivory one Callie heard a small sigh leave pink lips and she smiled at the sound.

"Next nominee is Meredith Grey from 'Heart and Hospital'" the male host announced next. Cheering sounded out in the room as people clapped and shouted their congratulations to Meredith who smiled big. The brunette released Arizona's hand to be able to clap at Meredith's accomplishment.

"Meredith lands her third nomination for her part as Dr. Ellen Porter but she has yet to win. Maybe this year will be her year" the male host finished.

Callie smiled at Meredith as their eyes met. The cheering and applauding of Meredith continued until the next category came up. "And now we're moving on to a category that I personally think will be very exciting this year; 'Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series'." The hostess said.

"First nominee is an actress whose success and career has only been skyrocketing this past year; Callie Torres from 'Heart and Hospital'."

The entire room broke out in cheering and clapping once again and Mark even threw in some whistles. Arizona instinctively pulled the brunette to her in a tight hug. "Congratulations Calliope" the blonde softly whispered "I'm really proud of you."

Callie inhaled the scent of Arizona "Thank you" she breathed out as she eased out of the hug.

"This is Callie Torres' second nomination for her part as Dr. Sara Restaz and the actress has recently gotten a lot of credit for her work on both the movie 'A Better World' and for her part as Dr. Restaz. I bet Addison Montgomery is glad she's got Callie Torres as part of her 'Heart and Hospital' cast because that can only be good for the publicity of the show." The host continued as Callie was hugged and congratulated by all of her friend and colleagues.

Arizona watched as Nathan stepped up and hugged Callie. Really tight. And let his hands wander down her back and rest where you couldn't really tell if it was still her back or if he in fact had his hands on the brunette's ass. Meanwhile he was whispering something to Callie that made her laugh a little.

The blonde felt like bursting into tears. She didn't know if it was from the anger she felt at the sight or from the sadness she felt by the fact that it wasn't her standing there with her hands wrapped around Callie making her laugh.

"Well it seems as if they are going to be battling it out on the 'Heart and Hospital' set this time around. The last nominee for 'outstanding supporting actress in a drama series' is none other than the newest addition to the show, Arizona Robbins."

The blonde felt the world around her stop as her name sounded out. She vaguely registered the hollering, the congratulating and the clapping going crazy around her. Then she felt as a pair of very familiar arms wrap around her and she was pulled into a hug and engulfed in the scent of her girlfriend.

"Shit Arizona! Congratulations!" the brunette let out as she hugged the blonde close to her body. Callie was so happy for the other woman in that moment. The blonde had really put her heart and soul into her characters story and all of the hard work and exhaustion had definitely paid off. The story had been told beautifully and Callie was very glad that it was acknowledged.

Arizona pulled back from the hug and smiled absently at the brunette. "Thank you" she said hoarsely. Her throat was so dry and it didn't seem like swallowing helped at all.

Seconds later her phone started dinging with incoming texts and then it started ringing in her pocket. The blonde reached for it but a tanned hand stopped her. For the first time since hearing her name Arizona felt a little present and she looked up into mesmerizing chocolate brown eyes that conveyed such amounts of pride and love. "Leave it" Callie softly stated as she smiled at her girlfriend "you can deal with that later. Right now you should just enjoy that" the brunette said and pointed to the screen where a picture of Arizona still filled up the entire space as the hosts recounted her odds of taking home the Emmy as the dark horse of the category.

Arizona's eyes flicked between the screen and Callie that still smiled at her. "I'm so happy for you Arizona. You deserve this more than anyone else" the brunette stated. The blonde felt as she was patted on the back by some of their co-stars and some crew members while Amelia hugged her side. But the blonde kept her eyes on Callie that had turned her head around to once again look at the screen.

Arizona's ogling of her girlfriend was stopped when Mark stepped in front of her and engulfed her in a very tight hug. "Congratulations Arizona. But they'd be idiots not to nominate you. God knows your acting lifted mine" the man softly said.

The blonde smiled. "Thank you Mark. And it was definitely team work. So thank you" Arizona breathed out.

Mark released her with a squeeze and blue eyes once again fell upon the gorgeous brunette standing right there smiling and now talking to Owen and Alex. Callie had the most beautiful profile and the blonde loved the way the brunette's jawline and cheekbone framed her face perfectly.

"Callie?" Arizona breathed out tenderly.

The brunette turned towards Arizona and her smile got even bigger. "Yes?"

The blonde opened her mouth. But she wasn't really sure what she wanted to say. Instead she reached out and pulled Callie to her by her neck, claiming plump lips in a searing kiss. The brunette lost her footing a little at the force and gasped in surprise. Arizona heard as Alex let out a 'holy crap' next to them. The room went eerily silent and you could have heard a pin drop on the floor had it not been for the sounds coming from the TV screen where the host and hostess had moved on to 'Outstanding lead actor in a drama series'. When the blonde pulled back she rested her forehead against the brunette's. "I love you" Arizona said and reached up to cup two caramel cheeks. "I love you so much Callie Torres."

Callie couldn't help but smile at the heartfelt emotions in her girlfriend's voice. "I love you so much too Arizona Robbins." Then the brunette pulled back and locked her eyes on Arizona's. "And I hope you kick my ass when we go head to head at the Emmy's" Callie stated with a big smile.

The blonde shook her head. "I won't. But that doesn't matter. Because I'm nominated for an Emmy. A real life Emmy! That's INSANE" Arizona said in disbelief.

"Erhm guys. What's happening here?" April questioned as she pointed her finger between the two women that now had their attention turned to the red head.

Arizona chuckled. "Isn't it obvious April? If not we can redo the whole thing for you again" the blonde deadpanned.

April just stood there with a blank expression on her face. Arizona reached out, intertwined her fingers with Callie's and brought the brunette's hand to her mouth to place a kiss on tanned knuckles. "I'm so very in love with Callie. And, thankfully, she's in love with me too. So we're dating. Although we would really like the chance to decide for ourselves when the world gets to know about it, so we would really appreciate it if you'd all keep it a secret for now" the blonde explained.

The blonde glanced at Nathan whose eyes were wide and shocked. Arizona held on to Callie's hand a little tighter as she appreciated the fact that she was the one getting to clutch that soft, tanned hand. Then the shocked bunch of people started smiling and congratulating the two women.

"Hold on for a second" Alex said. "You're telling me that you and Callie are a couple now? I didn't even know you two were into women!" the man looked at Callie and then at Mark "Boy did you two manage to do a number on each other in that marriage both going instantly gay after your divorce" he finished.

"Hey" Mark said as fire immediately appeared in his eyes while he moved towards Alex "don't you dare talk about our marriage like that!"

Andrew reached out and desperately tried to hold back Mark as he walked to Alex. But right before Mark reached his destination Arizona stepped in between the two and put her hand on Mark's chest. "Please don't Mark" she gently said.

Then the blonde turned towards Alex. "That was an unbelievably rude comment Alex! Jesus! They loved each other for TEN YEARS" Arizona let out "when have you ever stayed committed to another human being for that long? Don't diminish that because it deserves to be respected. They got divorced and both moved on. And it just so happens that they both did it in same-sex relationships. So what? As long as they are happy!" Arizona finished firmly.

Alex looked at Arizona and softened his expression. "You're right." Then he looked at Callie and a still fuming Mark. "I'm sorry guys. It wasn't my intention to be disrespectful."

Callie opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the voices on the screen "…and the first nominee for 'outstanding supporting actor in a drama series' is Mark Sloan from 'Heart and Hospital'."

Mark's eyes widened and he instantly turned his head towards the screen. "What?" he stated loudly. Andrew engulfed him in a big hug but Mark just stood there still staring at the screen as a small kiss was placed on the outskirt of his lips. "Congratulations. You're all kinds of amazing" Andrew said with a big smile.

Mark looked at Arizona and broke into a huge smile. He moved away from Andrew's arms and pulled the blonde to him in another tight hug. "Well would you look at us being all awesome blondie!"

Arizona chuckled into her co-stars shoulder. "Congratulations Mark. I'm so glad you got nominated too. You deserve to be."

"Addison better not break us up in the beginning of next season" Mark stated firmly "I'm not done being all outstanding with you."

The blonde pulled back and smiled at her co-star. "And I'm not done being all outstanding with you!"

Arizona's phone dinged in her pocket once again and she moved away from Mark, letting Andrew hug the man once again, while she pulled out her phone and started looking at her texts.

 _*OH MY GOD ARIZONA! I can't believe it. Well I can because you're a great actress, but OH MY GOD! Congratulations. Oh and Addison sends her congrats as well. Can't wait to give you a Teddy-hug! Love ya. –T_

 _*Oh sweetie. We're so proud of you. Congratulations. Give our love to Callie and congratulate her on her nomination as well. We love you. – mom and dad._

 _*Go sis! You're amazing and I'm so happy and proud to get to tell people that you're my sister. And I know that Callie got nominated too but I'm so rooting for you on this one. Tell her congratulations on her nomination though. Amanda says hi and congratulations - Love Tim._

Arizona's breezing through her texts was interrupted as she felt two arms snake around her waist and a soft cheek press against the side of her head. "Who's texting you?" Callie gently asked before turning her head a little to press her lips softly against an ivory cheek.

The blonde smiled. She'd almost forgotten that this could happen now with Alex' outburst and Mark's nomination. "Everyone" Arizona answered which made the brunette chuckle. Then a caramel hand reached out and tugged the phone from the blonde's hand. Callie put the phone in her own back pocket of her jeans.

Arizona turned around and looked at her girlfriend. "Hey. Why did you do that?"

Callie smiled at the blonde. "Because you're going to take a minute just standing here and taking it all in. Remember how you're feeling. This is the first major award you're nominated for! You're going to want to remember this day forever. Believe me."

The blonde leaned in and rested her forehead against Callie's. "There is no way I'm ever forgetting this day. Trust me."

The brunette smiled. "Me neither. And thank you for standing up for my and Mark's marriage. That means a lot."

Arizona pulled back and looked at Callie. "I meant what I said. It was ten years Callie. And even if you'd only loved each other for five minutes it still deserved to be respected."

"Thank you" the brunette tenderly said as she leaned in and kissed pink lips.

When they parted Arizona looked up into brown eyes and smiled. "I'm so glad we can do that."

Callie smiled back. "Me too. I really just wanted to kiss you and congratulate you properly" the brunette softly said.

"Well then why don't you?" Arizona asked with a smile.

The brunette leaned in and once again captured pink lips with her own. Callie softly let her tongue trace across Arizona's lower lip eliciting a small sigh from the other woman. Then pink lips parted and a soft tongue connected with Callie's. The brunette moaned softly at the feeling.

When air became an issue and they parted Callie reached up and cupped a soft cheek. "Congratulations on your nomination Arizona."

The blonde reached up and grabbed the caramel hand that was resting on her cheek. "Congratulations to you too Calliope."

Arizona leaned up to kiss her girlfriend again when Amelia's voice cut through the air. "Are you two just going to stand there making fuck-me eyes at each other and making out or are you going to come celebrate with the rest of us?"

Arizona winked at Callie and pecked plump lips. Then she dragged the brunette by her hand towards the others and took the glass of champagne that Mark reached out to her. Then one was reached out to Callie who took it too.

Brittany cleared her throat. "Addison asked me to step in in her absence and make sure that if we had any nominees they were toasted properly. So Meredith, Callie, Arizona and Mark; congratulations on your nominations. Regardless how it's going to go we're all very proud of you and your work. Arizona. Callie. I know we don't know what will happen but may the best woman win!" the executive producer finished with a smile at the two women who were still holding hands.

Callie smiled back and looked at Arizona reaching her glass out to toast against the blonde's. "May the best woman win!"

Arizona smiled back at the brunette. "May the best woman win!"

* * *

Callie and Arizona were standing off to the side of the room both with their phones in hand. Callie's had been going off nonstop too but the brunette had made sure to put her phone on silent before the whole thing started.

 _*Thanks Teds. I seriously can't believe it. I mean how did that even happen? And it's all because of your woman making sure my character had an awesome story to tell. And I can't wait for my Teddy-hug. Hope you're enjoying Antigua. Go back to worshipping your wife and we'll talk once you guys get back. Oh and tell her thank you. – A_

Arizona moved on to the text from her mom. She felt herself getting a little touched while thinking about the fact that she was only here because of her parents and Tim.

 _*Hi mom and dad. Thank you. I still have a hard time understanding this is really happening. I mean it's an Emmy! And thank you for being such awesome parents and making it possible for me to get the chance to even achieve this. I love you guys so much and I'll be forever grateful that you're my parents. Love Arizona._

Callie looked up from her phone as she heard a sniffle come from her girlfriend. The brunette frowned. "Arizona? Are you alright?"

The blonde smiled at Callie and nodded her head. "Are you kidding? I'm GREAT! I'm nominated for an Emmy, Callie. How crazy is that. I'm just so grateful that I get to be here in the first place. Had it not been for my parents and Tim it would never have been possible. And I'm so in love with you. I'm just really happy."

The brunette smiled and reached out to pull Arizona close to her. "I'm so glad that you're happy. I'm happy too. And it's really not crazy Arizona. You've performed so unbelievably well during this season. And I'm not just saying that because I'm so in love with you too. Your performance has blown people away. You're very, very talented and it's only a matter of time before directors, casters and producers will be calling your agent nonstop!" Callie stated.

The blonde smiled and blushed a little at her girlfriend's words. "Thank you. That's really nice of you to say" Arizona tenderly let out.

"I mean it Arizona" Callie stated firmly "I'm sure that if I ever get nominated for an Oscar again I'll go head to head with you on that too."

The blonde pulled back and kissed the other woman chastely. Then she snuggled back into Callie's embrace and unlocked her phone again.

 _*Hi Tim. You're the amazing one. I wouldn't be standing here if you haven't been the best and most unselfish big brother ever. Thank you Tim. Seriously. And I'm going to keep my promise to you, so you better dust off the tux and be ready to be my date at the end of the month. And if I don't beat her this time I will in the future. But thank you for rooting for me. And say hi and thanks to Amanda too. I love you – Arizona._

"He's rooting for you and not his favorite sister-in-law? I'm going to file that information for future use" Callie said with a chuckle.

Arizona laughed. "He will not be happy to hear that!"

The brunette smiled at her girlfriend. "I think I might be able to let it pass this time. Because I'm rooting for you too" Callie gently said.

"You don't have to Callie. I'll be happy either way. And I'm just so honored to even be nominated" the blonde said with a smile.

Callie leaned in and nuzzled her nose against an ivory one. "I'll be happy either way too. But I really want you to win this. Because you truly deserve it."

The two women were interrupted by Mark and Andrew approaching.

"Are you cheating on me already blondie" Mark asked with a wink before turning his attention to the brunette. "When are you leaving for Las Vegas Cal?"

"My flight's at 7 tonight. Why?" the brunette answered with a smile. Her ex-husband seemed really happy although he also still looked like he didn't really believe how this day had played out.

"Oh that's too bad. Andrew and I are going out to dinner and we wanted you guys to come with us" Mark said with a small pout.

Callie chuckled at her ex-husband. "We'll do it some other time. Maybe we can go out to celebrate if one of us should win?"

Marks laughed. "Want to make sure you've got dinner secured when you take that thing home?"

"I wouldn't be so sure that I'm the one taking it home. But it would be nice celebrating it with you guys shortly after if I did" the brunette said with a small smile.

"Well then that's a deal" Mark answered before looking at Arizona. "What about you blondie? Want to go have dinner with us later? We're going to Patina Restaurant."

The blonde smiled. "Yeah I'd really love to."

"Great" Mark smiled. "Our reservation is at 7 is that fine with you?"

Arizona nodded her head. "Yeah sure."

"I can't wait" Mark stated.

* * *

Half an hour later most people had left the studio again. Only Callie, Arizona, Mark, Andrew, Jo and Alex remained. The six of them were sipping champagne and talking about their vacations.

"Hey guys" Alex said hesitantly as he looked at Mark and Callie. "I'm really sorry about earlier. I was just really surprised. And it's not like I'm not happy that you've both found love again."

Callie watched as Mark clenched his hand a little and she subtly reached out to give his thigh a light squeeze. "It's okay Alex. I think Arizona already said what needed to be said. We're past it. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah it's fine" Mark agreed but sounded far less convincing than Callie.

"What time is it?" the brunette asked.

Jo looked at her watch. "5.03."

Callie nodded her head. "Okay. I need to get going then." The brunette rose from her chair and looked at a slightly pouting Arizona. "Please don't look like that Arizona. It makes me feel bad about leaving. But I really need to."

The blonde looked up and blue eyes locked with brown. "I'm sorry. When are you coming back to LA again?"

Callie could tell that her girlfriend's beautiful eyes were moister than they usually were and that made the brunette feel all kinds of bad. "I'm coming back for three days when we start shooting. I've been given the okay to skip the first table read."

"So you'll be back here in like ten days?" Arizona hesitantly asked.

"11" Callie answered with a nod of her head.

The blonde sighed audibly. "11 days. Okay. I can do eleven days."

The brunette reached out and pulled Arizona from her chair. When they were face to face Callie stroked an ivory cheek with the back of her hand. "I know this sucks big time. And I really hope you can do eleven days. I hope that it somehow helps that our relationship is out in the open here at work now. Because then you get to kiss me goodbye now. And you get to kiss me hello when I'm back here again in 11 days."

Arizona smiled and leaned in to wrap her arms around Callie's waist and rest her head against the brunette's shoulder. "I'm sorry. Don't feel bad. You have to go I know that. And it does help. I wouldn't have been able to take it if I'd just have to let you walk out that door just like that."

Callie smiled and kissed blonde locks. "I wouldn't have been able walk out the door just like that hot stuff. I would have found a way to get at least a few minutes alone with you. But I do like this much better though."

The blonde leaned back and looked up into brown eyes. "You need to go. Or you're going to miss your plane. But first you need to kiss me. And make me remember it. It is going to last for 11 days."

The brunette chuckled and leaned in to capture pink lips in a passionate and searing kiss. A few minutes later Callie pulled back and smiled at a panting Arizona. "Like that?"

"Like that!" the blonde breathed out and pecked plump lips again before letting a kiss linger on soft, velvety lips. "Now you need to go" Arizona stated and smiled at her girlfriend.

"I really do" Callie sighed. "I'll text you later. Have fun and enjoy your evening with Mark and Andrew" the brunette moved her gaze to her ex-husband "make sure she has fun tonight, would you?"

Mark smiled and nodded his head. "We'll make sure of that."

The brunette smiled and sighed as she looked into blue eyes again. "I'm going to miss you Arizona. And I wished that I could stay here and celebrate with you. But I'm going to trust that Mark and Andrew will take good care of you and make sure you get a night to remember."

The blonde smiled big at her girlfriend. "I'll miss you too. But you need to go and be an awesome stripper in Las Vegas. And I'll have fun don't worry."

Callie leaned in and placed her lips on pink ones one last time. "I'll talk to you later." Then the brunette turned towards Mark, Andrew, Jo and Alex. "Bye guys. I'll see you."

With that the brunette turned around and made her way out the door.

 **Yay, they're finally out to their colleagues. I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Let me know what you thought of it ;)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	33. Chapter 33

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys :)**

 **Yay I'm back again – and it didn't take me a week this time! ;) This chapter is for srock who bribed me with an awesome new drawing if I uploaded chapter 33 soon(ish) and to RunningOnSunshine94 who's been in a car wreck a few days ago and was too sore to really do anything but be entertained by fanfiction - I really hope you're okay! :/**

 **Also I just need to mention how awesome the Danish handball gents were kicking France's ass in the gold match at the olympics - sorry lovely French readers :*!**

 **To jolynn15: I'm really glad you still find this story amazing – it really warms my heart**

 **To srock (and basically anyone who's ever reviewed this story): YAY review number 500! I can't believe you guys have been that awesome at letting me know your thoughts! 500 is A LOT! By all means keep it up – I'm loving it every time one of you leaves me a review. And thank you srock for continuous support for me and this story - you know I appreciate it a lot.**

 **To Calzonafan123: Yeah that'll be exciting to see if any of the hopeful 'Heart and Hospital' nominees will take home an award! :D**

 **To AnnaBir: You have to root for Denmark because they are awesome not because the coach is from Iceland ;) :P**

 **To greysaddicts579: No worries – school is important! That should always be prioritized the highest.**

 **To Malibu: Thank you! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy this! :D**

CHAPTER 33:

Arizona leaped out of bed as soon as her alarm sounded. She yawned while putting on her running shorts, her sports bra and her tank top. She went to the bathroom and put her hair into a messy ponytail. Then she grabbed a banana and her work out back and headed out the door.

When she arrived at the studio she made her way to the gym and found Mark and Andrew already on the treadmills. "Hi" she said smiling as she put on her shoes.

Mark and Andrew glanced at each other before looking at the blonde. "You are normally really, really perky but somehow it just seems even worse today" Mark commented.

Arizona sent him a dazzling smile as she stepped onto the treadmill. "Callie's back today!"

Andrew smiled at the blonde "Well then I can understand the really happy face. Are you doing anything special then? Going out maybe"

The two men watched at the smile turned into a frown. "No. We can't really do that. Not as girlfriends anyway. We're just going to go to one of our homes. Probably hers since she's been away for so long" Arizona let out.

Andrew smiled at the blonde sympathetically. "You're not that far off from being able to go out with her in public as your girlfriend. You've told all the people who need to know right? You guys should just go for it then" the younger man shrugged.

The blonde smiled. "Yeah. You're right."

"What are you waiting for? Get your girly ass moving, Robbins" Andy said as he entered the gym. The trainer walked straight to Arizona and turned on the treadmill. The blonde just rolled her eyes and started running.

* * *

Callie walked down the halls of the 'Heart and Hospital' set. She'd just gotten there and now she wanted to see her girlfriend before she had to be in the make-up trailer to get ready for shooting her scenes. When she turned a corner she was met with the sight of her beautiful girlfriend walking towards her. As soon as blue eyes landed on the brunette Arizona's smile got impossibly big and then the blonde started running towards the brunette.

Arizona threw herself onto Callie and hugged her tight. The brunette smiled into blonde locks. "Hi. Missed me?"

"Like you wouldn't believe" the blonde breathed out in response. "I'm so glad you're here."

Callie kissed Arizona's head. "I'm really glad to be here. And I've missed you too. So much."

The blonde pulled her head back and really looked at her girlfriend's face for the first time in eleven days. "Skype really doesn't do your beautiful face justice" Arizona tenderly said.

The brunette chuckled a little at that. "Thank you."

Arizona smiled and then she leaned up a little and captured plump lips in what was supposed to be a chaste kiss. But as soon as the blonde tasted the unique flavor of her girlfriend she couldn't help herself and she roughly pushed her tongue inside Callie's mouth.

The brunette groaned in appreciation as the blonde's soft tongue connected with her own for the first time in what felt like an eternity. And before Callie knew what was happening she was pushed roughly against the wall.

Pink lips stayed connected to velvety ones and Arizona never wanted the kiss to end. She vaguely registered a door on her right and reached out to open it. Once she succeeded she maneuvered Callie inside and closed the door behind them her lips not leaving the brunette's for even a second.

When engulfed in darkness Callie came back to reality and tore her lips from her girlfriends. "Where are we?" the brunette said slightly out of breath.

"I don't know and I don't care" Arizona replied as she leaned in again and placed a lingering and passionate kiss on the other woman. Then her hands sought out Callie's slacks. She gently let her hand run along the waistband barely letting her fingers graze caramel skin. When she reached the front she unbuttoned the pants and let her hand make its way inside.

Callie gasped as a soft hand made contact with the front of her panties. "Arizona. Don't." The brunette breathed out. "Not here. Let's just wait until tonight."

The blonde rested her forehead against the brunette's as she kept letting her fingers travel up and down the front of a pair of undoubtedly amazing lace panties. "I can't really wait until tonight. I don't want to wait for tonight" Arizona stated as she let her index finger gently circle Callie's clit.

"Fuck" the brunette let out at the feeling. Callie almost couldn't remember the last time her girlfriend had touched her and the feeling was all kinds of amazing.

Arizona gently pushed Callie back against the wall next to the door and kissed her again while her hand pushed the lace fabric aside and her finger had access to the other woman's clit without any barriers hindering the touch. The brunette moaned into the blonde's mouth. The slow circles, Arizona was making on her engorged nub, were almost too much to handle for Callie who felt like she would ignite any moment now.

"I've missed you" the blonde breathed out when she tore her lips from the brunette's. "Like you wouldn't believe Calliope."

Callie threw her head back in pleasure eliciting a thud when it collided with the wall. "Shit. I've missed you too. So much Arizona. I can't wait until this movie is done!"

Two of the blonde's fingers made their way to the brunette's slit. "Fuck, you're so wet."

"Only for you. It's always only for you" Callie hoarsely let out. The brunette groaned in satisfaction when two fingers pushed deeply inside her and Callie heard herself whimper her girlfriend's name.

Arizona felt her own panties getting soaked by the sheer amount of want and love that resonated out when Callie whimpered her name. The brunette was all kinds of hot in the throes of passion and the blonde really wanted to see her.

Arizona reached up and found the light switch next to the door. The room lit up and the blonde leaned back to look at the woman writhing against the wall. Callie was just so beautiful and just the sight of her somehow made the blonde feel like bursting into tears. But then a deep, hoarse moan left the brunette's lips that was slightly parted and Arizona's mind went from being filled with appreciation of the brunette's beauty to filled with appreciation for her desire. Arizona crashed her lips against Callie's in a wet, sloppy and passionate kiss.

Callie started whimpering into her girlfriend's mouth as ivory fingers picked up their pace. The brunette spread her legs a little further and she felt and ivory hand come to rest just underneath one of her armpits for support.

"You're going to make me come without even touching me if you keep making those sounds" Arizona murmured against plump lips. This elicited another whimper from Callie that went straight to the blonde's core.

The blonde moved her lips to a caramel neck and sucked slightly on Callie's pulse point. "Fuck you're so hot" Arizona breathed out and bit slightly at the brunette's neck before soothing it with her tongue.

Callie was way past a point where she could tell what was up and what was down. Pure lust rushed through her and the brunette didn't care that she was probably very late for her make-up appointment.

Arizona let the back of her hand brush Callie's clit and the most glorious sound between a moan and a whimper was sent straight into her ear. The blonde was sure that she would come herself in not too long.

The blonde pulled back and looked at the brunette's face that bore clear evidence of pleasure. "Look at me Calliope" Arizona tenderly whispered.

Callie instantly opened her eyes and when brown orbs found blue ones the blonde whimpered a little herself. "I love you. Let go" Arizona softly whispered.

That was all it took and the blonde felt her girlfriend's inner walls contract as a series of small whimpers left plump lips sending the blonde straight into her own orgasm. Arizona leaned forward and rested her head on Callie's shoulder as she herself softly cried out from the gratification of her release.

The two women stood there panting for a while after they'd reached their highs. "Was it just my imagination or did you come to?" Callie croaked out at last.

Arizona turned her head and gently kissed a tanned neck. "It wasn't your imagination."

The brunette leaned her head a little to the side resting it on Arizona's. "Really?"

The blonde smiled and inhaled Callie's scent. "Really. It's doing all kinds of things to me when those hot, hot sounds leave your beautiful mouth."

Callie reached up and pushed Arizona's head away from her shoulder making the blonde look at her. "I find that unbelievably hot. And while I would love to get my hands all over your body I'm pretty sure I'm already late. But I promise you that I'll do all kinds of things to you tonight" the brunette softly said.

Arizona removed her hand from Callie's slacks and started to move away from her girlfriend but the brunette pulled her back in for a tender and loving kiss. "I love you too" Callie sincerely stated as they parted.

The blonde smiled and move back. "Come on. We need to get you to the make-up trailer asap."

Callie grabbed Arizona's hand as the blonde opened the door and walked out into the hallway just as Addison passed by the room. The red head stopped and eyed the two women. "What were you guys doing in that props room?" Addison asked. Then she looked at Callie and closed her eyes. "Urgh, don't say it. I know that look. And for future reference you guys might want to fuck each other in one of your trailers instead like the rest of us."

Arizona blushed a little at that but felt Callie squeeze her hand. "We didn't have time to go to the trailer Ads. And we haven't got time to stand here talking to you. I'm glad you're back though. You look good. And I can't wait to hear all about the honeymoon. Well not all about it because there are definitely things that you can and should keep to yourself" the brunette said with a smug smile.

Addison laughed. "Well then I'm not sure there's much to tell Cal! And I don't want to keep you two. I'll talk to you later" the red head said and made her way further down the hallway with a small wave.

Arizona face palmed herself when Addison was out of sight. "Urgh" the blonde groaned "I can't believe that just happened. She's already seen us going at it once and now she busted us doing it at work. In a props room! She's our BOSS Callie."

The brunette chuckled. "Well honey, you were the one dragging me in there. And I really loved it for the record. And don't worry about it. She's really not that uptight. Besides she just got back from her honeymoon and we both got nominated for an Emmy. I'm pretty sure that if we ever were to get caught sexing each other up instead of doing what she pays us to do then now was the perfect time."

Arizona just looked at Callie with a blank expression. "Let's just go" the blonde said as she started pulling her girlfriend towards the make-up trailer.

* * *

Arizona smiled as she made her way out of the set after changing back in to her street clothes and found Callie sitting in the lounge area with her phone in her hand and her purse by her side obviously waiting for the blonde.

"Hey there pretty lady" Arizona purred when she got closer to the brunette.

Callie looked up from her phone and smiled at the blonde. "Hi" she said as she locked her phone and put it back in to her purse.

The blonde sat down next to her girlfriend and pecked plump lips lovingly. "How was your day?" Arizona asked. The two women hadn't had the chance to see each other since this morning.

The brunette smiled. "It was great. Although Nathan seriously messed up most of our scenes. He had this passive-aggressive behavior all day. I don't know what was wrong with him."

Arizona blinked her eyes a few times. "You seriously don't know?" the blonde asked with a little incredulity to her voice.

"You know what's wrong with him?" Callie questioned.

Blue eyes investigated brown ones to see if they bore any trace of lying or if the brunette was just that inattentive. "Yes! Actually I think most of the people that work here do because there has been a lot of whispering about it. And I find it really hard to believe that you don't know!"

The brunette furrowed her forehead in confusion. "I think you're forgetting that I wasn't here last week when you all came back from hiatus, Arizona!"

"Okay first of all I will NEVER forget that you weren't here last week" the blonde stated "and secondly it's not something that's come up in the last week. Well it kind of is." Arizona sighed and smiled a little at Callie. "He's got a MAJOR crush on you. And let me tell you that he's not liking the fact that you're now with someone else. I think he thinks he put a lot of effort into wooing you."

Callie chuckled. "He does not have a crush on me! How do you know anyway? Did he say something to you?" the brunette asked seriously. "Because if he did then…"

"No he didn't. Don't worry about that" Arizona interrupted. "But I've seen him put in some serious smooth moves to get to touch your ass and whatnot. He's got a crush on you Callie!"

The brunette shook her head. "Whatever. Even if that is true then he needs to get over that." Callie smiled at Arizona. "Are you ready to go home? We can go to your place if you want to. I don't mind."

The blonde looked down at her hands for a second and fumbled a little with the zipper on her own purse. "I was thinking that maybe we could go out?" Arizona tentatively stated.

"Go out?" Callie asked bewildered.

"Yes go out. As a couple Calliope. I mean our family and our colleagues already know about us and we agreed to both having told anyone else who needed to know by now. So we should just go out. I just want to grab your hand, leave this place, take you to dinner, kiss you and just let it all run its course" Arizona rambled on.

"You want to make it public right now? As in tonight?" the brunette asked.

The blonde smiled and nodded her head. "Yes. I really do. I want the whole world to know that you and I are together. I feel like calling the media myself and telling them. I want to tell everyone" Arizona breathed out.

Brown eyes widened and Callie looked down in her lap. She closed her eyes for a second before opening them again and sighing. "I just want to go home tonight. Please?"

Arizona rolled her eyes a little. "I get that you're tired Callie. But please. Let's just go out there and make it known to anyone who'd want to listen that you and I are in love?"

"Actually" the brunette started hesitantly and with another small sigh "I kind of think we should wait a while to do that." Callie slowly looked up into blue eyes.

Arizona furrowed her brows. "You don't want our relationship to be known to the public anymore?" The blonde felt her heartbeat speed up as she asked that question.

The brunette sighed. "It's not that I don't want it to be known Arizona. I just don't think we should publish it until after the Emmy's."

"Why not?" Arizona asked a bit hard.

Callie tilted her head a little. "Because I don't want the Emmys to be about that. If you and I walk out that door" the brunette said as she pointed to the studio doors "holding hands then we're going to be hunted by the press like you wouldn't believe. We're not only famous actresses, we're also nominated in the same category at the Emmy's not to mention my ex-husband recently came out too and while the press haven't been too interested in that, the thing with you and me is going to change that for sure. Remember how Alex reacted? We'll be the only thing anyone is writing about" the brunette desperately tried to explain.

"So you're worried that the fact that the attention being on us as a couple will ruin your chances of an Emmy?" Arizona asked harshly while looking down at her hands that rested in her lap.

"NO!" Callie let out immediately while shaking her head furiously. "No, that's not the case at all. I don't hink it could ever ruin anyone's chances of an Emmy. And I'm not going to win that Emmy anyway. Everyone else in that category has had much better stories and done a much better job than me this past season."

The brunette sighed and reached out for one of the blonde's hand but Arizona withdrew them before Callie could grab one making the brunette pull back a little shocked. "Arizona…?"

Hard blue eyes connected with brown orbs. "What? For months and months on end you and I have talked about this and now that I'm finally ready, when I can't wait in fact, then you don't want the public to know about us anymore" Arizona let out.

"Arizona that's not what this is about. I DO want them to know. But I don't want to walk that red carpet and all I have to talk about is our relationship. And if one of us should win, then I don't want to read headline after headline wondering if our 'media stunt' of coming out just a few weeks before the Emmy's was the only reason you or I won. Please think about what consequences that would have to the whole experience" Callie pleaded.

This only made blue eyes harden even more. "Consequences? Well I'm sorry for wanting to be able to take my girlfriend out to dinner. Or take a stroll down the beach with her. We can't do ANYTHING. And you're in fucking Vegas all the time. We never see each other. Because we can't. Because we're a secret. I couldn't care less about the consequences. And I'm sorry that I'm some kind of interference to your precious Emmy moment!" Arizona said with a slightly raised voice.

"Arizona I told you, I'm not going to win. I'm…" the brunette started but was cut off by a fuming blonde.

"Then what the hell is the problem Callie? Besides the fact that you're having cold feet about this?" the blonde spat.

The brunette could practically see the steam coming from the blonde's ears. There was no doubt that Arizona was furious and hurt. Callie didn't really want to spell it out to the blonde but she could tell that she had to. She opened her mouth to start again when suddenly Teddy and Addison appeared out of nowhere.

"Hi guys…" the honey-blonde started out but paused when she saw the expression on Arizona's face. It was a mix of anger and all-consuming heartbreak. And Teddy didn't like it at all. "What's going on here?" the honey-blonde hesitantly asked.

Arizona looked at her best friend. "Nothing! So what's up with you two?"

Teddy glanced at Addison who had her eyes locked on Callie. "Actually we wanted to hear if you guys wanted to go get a quick drink or something. We haven't talked to you guys practically at all since the wedding and we just thought it would be nice catching up with our best friends" the red head said with some hesitation.

Callie smiled at Addison. "Thank you for the offer but…"

"We'd love to!" Arizona interrupted. "Or at least I would. I would love to. But Callie might have second thoughts" the blonde said through gritted teeth.

"Arizona, please" Callie breathed out.

"Okay what's going on?" Teddy asked again.

Arizona stared at Callie who pleaded with her eyes for her girlfriend to understand. Finally the brunette diverted her gaze to Teddy. "It's not important right now. We'll figure it out later" Callie said as she started getting out of her seat on the couch "where are we going for drinks?"

Teddy narrowed her eyes a little as she looked at Callie's face. The brunette looked a little desperate and the honey-blonde wondered what could possibly be going on. Addison had told she'd caught the two women after what had apparently been hot sex in the props room earlier but now it seemed like the blonde was ready to kill the brunette. Then Teddy softened her face. "We thought we might go to 'Viviane'."

"Great" Arizona said as she rose from her seat as well "let's go then." With that the blonde was out the door and Callie released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She looked at Teddy and Addison who both had their eyes trained on her. The honey-blonde even looked a little mad. "What the hell did you do?" the red head asked her friend.

Callie closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again she felt her eyes brimming with tears. "I tried to explain to her that I think we should wait with coming out to the public until after the Emmy's. She didn't take that very well" the brunette softly stated.

Teddy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "While I do think I understand why you would want to wait I could also have told you beforehand that she wouldn't handle that very well. She misses you a lot Callie. And she just wants to be with you whenever she's got the chance" the honey-blonde explained.

Callie nodded. "And she can. I'm in LA for three days and apart from being here in the studio I only planned on spending my time alone with her in one of our homes."

"Callie" Addison let out exasperated "you honestly don't think she wants to jump on a plane to Vegas every single day to visit and be with her girlfriend? But she can't because no one knows you're her girlfriend. You're the one with the very busy life. And she's the one left here. She doesn't only want three days. She just wants to be able to go to you if she wants to."

The brunette sighed. "I know that Ads. I'm not an idiot, okay! And it's not like I don't want to be able to kiss her and hold her hand and literally SCREAM OUT to the world that she's the most amazing human being I have ever met. But we should wait to do that until after the Emmy's. She has a real shot at this Addison you and I both know that. And I don't want that to be forever tainted by rumors of her only winning it because she and I were the new darlings of the media or whatever the fuck they'll write. Or that she has to answer all kinds of inappropriate questions about her and me, her and Mark or, God forbid, Mark and me when she's standing there in what is supposed to be one of the many highlights of her career" Callie explained with some despair in her voice.

Two sets of eyes softened as they looked at the brunette. "You should tell her that, Callie" Teddy tenderly said.

Callie rolled her eyes and huffed. "What do you think I've been trying to do?! And I admit it wasn't going all that well because she's misunderstanding what I'm saying and not really letting me finish. And I didn't want to have to spell it out to her because she doesn't think she's going to win at all so she'll think I'm all kinds of ridiculous. And then just when I decided to tell her you guys showed up and now she's probably halfway to 'Viviane' and I can't talk to her there. So yeah telling her that is proving a little difficult Teddy" the brunette deadpanned.

Addison reached out and pulled Callie to her in a hug. "I'm sorry Cal. I'm sure the drive to 'Viviane' will have softened her up a bit. And then you can talk to her for real when you guys get home tonight" the red head said.

Callie pulled back from the hug. "I really hope you're right about all of that Ads. Anyway let's go. If we keep her waiting for too long she'll explode."

* * *

"…It was so breathtaking. I'm so fascinated when nature creates something like that. I could have stood there taking it all in forever" Teddy said as she told about her and Addison's trip to 'Devil's Bridge'.

Callie had to admit that she had a hard time paying attention. She kept glancing at Arizona who'd chosen to sit as far away from her as possible. The brunette had gone to the bar and got them both drinks when she, Addison and Teddy arrived but neither she nor Arizona had even touched their drinks.

"…and of course the snorkeling was all kinds of awesome! Thankfully my woman knows how much I love that and took me out for a lot of private trips to do just that" Teddy stated lovingly as she pulled Addison a little closer and pecked her wife's lips.

"That sounds really great Teds. It must be nice to receive such gestures. It must make you feel very treasured" Arizona said with a hint of edge to her voice.

Callie picked up on the tone right away and she knew it was intended as a pun to her. And it worked. The brunette felt her heart clench a little at those words and she just smiled a little sadly as she caught Addison's gaze.

"Yeah, you and I are both lucky like that" Teddy said towards Arizona and the brunette mouthed a 'thank you' to the honey-blonde that glanced over at Callie for a second.

The blonde just huffed a little in response while she played with the straw in her drink.

"Arizona can we please just leave it for right now? We can talk about it later. And I'm sorry that you're this hurt but I really think that you need to let me explain this properly. If you'd just let me explain then I'm sure…" the brunette whispered softly but was cut off by her girlfriend.

"Oh please don't give me some kind of crap excuse about you needing to explain Callie! You don't want it to reach the public. End of story. And you're not good at this. You're not good at being in a relationship because it means that two people should have equal say. I get why the last one didn't work out. You've obviously reached a stalemate with you and I. Lately I've been the one with all the initiative and it makes me doubt if you really want this EVERY SINGLE DAY" Arizona whisper yelled without looking up from her drink.

The brunette recoiled and water welled in brown eyes instantly. Callie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she tried to keep the tears at bay. "I'm really sorry to hear you feel that way Arizona" the brunette managed to croak out. Then she turned and looked at Addison and Teddy. "I'm going to go home. But it was nice seeing you two again and I'm glad to hear that your honeymoon was great."

The brunette rose from her chair. "Callie" Addison softly said and tried to reach out and grab hold of her friend's hand but the brunette was too fast.

"Don't Addison. Not now. I'm just going to go home and get some sleep. I'm completely exhausted" Callie said as she looked at her friend.

"Of course you are! You always are" Arizona said and rolled her eyes while making a face.

"Arizona!" Teddy scolded. "Enough."

Callie looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds before looking at the blonde who was still playing with her straw. She reached out to put a hand on Arizona's shoulder but thought better of it. "Goodnight" the brunette said sadly before turning around and leaving the bar.

Addison and Teddy followed the brunette out the bar with their eyes before turning around and looking at the blonde. Arizona caught Addison's gaze and fuming grey-blue eyes locked in on Arizona's blue orbs. "I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing but that was not fair Arizona. And if you want to keep her I'm suggesting some serious ass kissing starting as soon as possible" the red head stated before rising from her seat. Addison looked at Teddy. "I'm going to get us another drink."

The honey-blonde smiled at her wife before looking at Arizona as Addison made her way to the bar. Teddy just sat there looking at her friend who looked hurt, angry and ashamed while now taking sips of her drink through the straw. "Just say it Teddy" the blonde let out.

"I don't think I need to say anything. I think Addison expressed it just fine" Teddy let out with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You seriously think I'm that wrong in being slightly upset about her not wanting to go public all of a sudden?" the blonde asked in disbelief.

The honey-blonde shook her head. "I didn't say that Arizona!" Teddy said softly before her voice got more serious "but I do think you were an absolute bitch just now. And I'm kind of surprised at just how mean you can be; telling her she's an awful girlfriend, throwing her failed marriage in her face and stating that you doubt she even wants to be with you in one breath is just downright malignant."

Arizona closed her eyes for a second. She opened them and looked at Teddy again before looking down at her drink. "I didn't mean it like that."

Green eyes widened. "Are you serious? How the hell can it be interpreted any different! That was what you said to her Arizona. Maybe not with those exacts words but that WAS what you said to her" Teddy scolded.

Then the honey-blonde sighed and her voice softened again. "Listen. I get that it sucks and you've clearly reached a breaking point. But think about for a second. Did you even listen to her? You seriously don't understand her points?"

"Of course I understand her points" Arizona let out. "I'd just kind of hoped that I would be more important to her than her winning a stupid award."

Teddy shook her head lightly. "You really need to be better at listening to people. Because that is not the issue at all. You're an idiot."

At that moment Addison came back to the table with a tray of drinks. She put one down in front of Teddy and then in front of Arizona. "I know you haven't finished your first one yet but I figured you could use another one too at some point" the red head said.

The blonde smiled at the other woman as she sat down next to Teddy once again. "Thank you Addison. You're right. How mad do you think she is?" Arizona gently asked.

"Mad?" blue-grey eyes widened a little. "She's not mad Arizona. She is hurt and miserable. But you wouldn't know that because you didn't even look at her."

Arizona looked down at her drink. She finished the first one in two gulp and pushed the empty glass away. "I know. I'm a bitch and I'm going to apologize and make it up to her. I think it might be best to wait until tomorrow thougsh. If I show up on her doorstep now she'll just be pissed and then I'll be pissed and then it'll end badly. And she needs to sleep. I really hope she's able to sleep a little" the blonde stated.

Addison smiled a little sadly at Arizona. "I think you're right about that. But you need to talk to her first thing tomorrow though. I hate to see her like that. And maybe a short text with some loving words wouldn't be the worst thing" the red head finished.

Arizona smiled. Addison had a point. The blonde pulled out her phone and unlocked it.

 _*Hi. I hope you made it home safe. I love you Calliope. So much. And I'm so sorry for tonight okay. Get some sleep and I'll talk to you tomorrow and we can sort everything out. Love Arizona._

* * *

Arizona sat nervously on her couch biting her nails. Her phone lay on her lap in front of her. She jumped a little in surprise when it dinged out.

 _*Did you talk to her yet? Jesus you are such a moron Arizona! And even though I want what's best for you I do understand if she's choosing to ignore your sorry ass. Anyway let me know how it goes. – T_

The blonde sighed and covered her face with her hands. Callie hadn't answered to the text last night nor this morning. And now it was noon and Arizona knew she needed to try and fix it soon. She just had no idea what to say to her girlfriend. The blonde wasn't sure that 'sorry' would even be enough.

Arizona punched Callie's number in and put the phone to her ear. It rang two times before being directed to voicemail. The blonde felt herself tear up a little at that. Callie had chosen not to take her call. And Arizona knew there could be multiple reasons for that but she couldn't help but think that the main reason was the fact that the brunette didn't want to talk to her at all.

 _*Hi Teds. I just tried calling her. She sent it to voicemail. I really messed up. – A_

Arizona sighed and just stared at her phone until it dinged a few seconds later.

 _*Well I'd hoped that was already obvious to you last night! She texted Addi an hour ago and she's really distraught about this Arizona. You should go to her. Like right now. And maybe if you're lucky then she's not going to slam the door in your face. – T_

The blonde sighed again. Teddy was right. She needed to go see Callie. It was the only right thing to do. The brunette deserved a proper apology.

Arizona got up from her couch, grabbed her keys and purse and made her way out the door. As she drove to Callie's house Arizona tried to think of something to even say to her girlfriend. Because had it been the other way around Arizona would have been both hurt and pissed as hell. The blonde wasn't sure she would even open the door.

When the blonde parked her car in Callie's driveway she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest. Then she shook her head. She needed to get this over with. The more time that passed the worse it was going to get.

Arizona hesitantly knocked on Callie's front door. Then she waited impatiently. She was about to knock a second time when the door opened and the brunette appeared.

The blonde's heart instantly sunk to her stomach. Callie's eyes hardened the instant she saw Arizona but the absolute agony was still very clear on her gorgeous tanned face. "Calliope" the blonde breathed out softly.

The brunette felt her eyes fill with tears when Arizona said her name. Callie was a little surprised that the blonde was here. Of course she'd rejected the other woman's call but that was really not that long ago. "Arizona" the brunette stated surprisingly calm.

Blue eyes locked on to brown ones. "Can I come in?" Arizona asked quietly.

Callie moved away from the door and allowed the blonde to enter. The brunette closed the door behind them and the two women stood awkwardly in the hallway. "Can I come in to the living room?" Arizona whispered almost inaudible.

"I have to be honest with you Arizona; I'm not really sure I want you to get anywhere near my living room right now" Callie said with obvious anger in her voice.

The blonde felt herself getting a little mad at those words. "Hey that's not fair! I'm not the only one who's wrong here. You don't want to be seen with me in public all of a sudden" Arizona raised her voice.

"Stop. You KNOW that's not the issue. And I would have explained to you in dept why I thought that we could and should wait an extra couple of weeks but then you decided that not only are you mad at me for not wanting to go public but I'm not even a good girlfriend to you and you don't really think that I can be in any kind of relationship" Callie barked.

The two women stood there staring at each other with heaving breast until brown eyes suddenly filled with tears that instantly flowed over and down tanned cheeks. "I can't believe you doubt that I want this" Callie breathed out with a cracking voice.

Arizona felt her heart break and she stepped forward to put her hand on a caramel cheek but the brunette instantly slapped it away. "Don't you dare fucking touch me right now!" the brunette let out sternly.

The blonde recoiled. She'd pissed Callie off a lot of times in the past but she'd never seen her like this. Her eyes were almost black. And not the kind of black that Arizona loved. But the kind of black that had taken over gorgeous brown eyes with fury.

"Callie, I…" Arizona paused. Her mind was a mix of emotions. She was mad at Callie for not wanting to go public tight now. She was heartbroken at the look of devastation that was chiseled into a tanned face. But mostly the blonde was scared. Scared that those black eyes would never return to their normal mesmerizing brown color when they looked at her. Scared that she'd messed up for good and that this was the beginning of a break up that would kill her.

Callie stood there looking at Arizona. She couldn't remember the last time she'd looked at the blonde and felt this empty. The brunette wasn't sure that had ever happened. "Can you even imagine how hard those words hit me Arizona? I get that you were mad and hurt, I really do, but saying what you did will never be okay! If I'm that horrible to be with and you're that insecure about my abilities to succeed in this relationship then what's even the point of continuing?" Callie asked with a raised voice.

Blue eyes filled with tears that quickly spilled over as Arizona began shaking her head furiously. "No Callie. Please don't. Please. I love you. And I'm sorry. I want to be with you. Please" the blonde desperately let out.

"Do you though Arizona? Do you really? Because those feelings you expressed yesterday tells me otherwise!" Callie said with a calmer voice.

"Of course I do!" Arizona said with a shaking voice. "I love you Callie. So, so much. I don't ever want to live without you. And I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" Callie asked. "What am I supposed to do with that? Just forgive you? You acted like a spoiled 5 year old brat who's so used to people letting her get her will and accommodating her every need that she can just tell them whatever the fuck she feels like! I get that you were hurt and mad at me Arizona, I do, and believe me I wanted nothing more than to make you not hurt but then you threw all that in my face and I honestly don't know how to feel about you or any of this now."

Arizona felt her heart clench more and more as the talk progressed. She couldn't fix this. No matter how desperately she tried she wouldn't be able to fix this. "Addison told me last night that you weren't mad at me" the blonde whispered.

Callie's eyes widened and her lips parted. That was what Arizona was going with? Then her features softened just a little. "I came home last night and cried for four hours straight. Last night the all-consuming feeling in me was sorrow Arizona. Sorrow that you wouldn't let me explain properly and sorrow that you thought that little of me as your girlfriend. Because the only thing that is a constant in my mind every single day is that I want you to be happy. Every fiber in my being just wants to do whatever it takes to make you the most happy. And I would LOVE to make our relationship public. But I truly believe that you're going to win that Emmy Arizona. And you deserve to enjoy that moment being praised for your accomplishment with Tim by your side and not with the media throwing themselves at you to get the latest details of our relationship. I hate it, but I can and want to wait a few more weeks before going public. For YOUR sake" the brunette finished.

Arizona didn't think that she could feel any worse than she already did. But she was wrong! In that moment she felt like the worst girlfriend to ever walk the planet. "I love you. I really need to say that again. I love you in a way that just devours me whole. You're the most perfect and amazing human being I have ever known and I'm so sorry for going all mental and behaving like an epic bitch yesterday. Because you've never ever done anything to deserve that. Every time I've needed you, you've been there and you've gone out of your way to make me feel comfortable in every situation. I'm sorry I wasn't the same kind of person, now that you needed ME to just cool my heels for a second."

The blonde took in a breath and continued. "And if you want to end this then I don't blame you. Because I crossed a line last night and I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Especially if it means I end up losing you."

Blue eyes stared into black eyes that had a hint of chocoltae brown back in them now. Callie sighed and moved over to the blonde that looked like she might pass out in the hallway from shock, regret and devastation. The brunette tentatively took an ivory hand in her own. "I don't know if I can just believe this second that you didn't mean those things. Because you must have said them for a reason. But I don't want to live without you either. I just need you to really think about this. To be really sure that this is what you want. That I'm what you want. I don't want you thinking of me as a horrible girlfriend. Because you deserve the best possible girlfriend. And I'm trying really hard to be that for you. But if you don't think I'm succeeding then we need to move on from each other."

Arizona pulled the brunette to her by the hand and engulfed her in a tight hug. "I don't need to think about that. I love you. And I want to be with you. You're not a horrible girlfriend. You're the best one ever. And you're way too good for me."

"Right now I have to agree with you on that one" Callie softly said "but I'm sure you'll make it up to me."

"I will if you'll let me Calliope. I promise. It'll be my sole purpose moving forward" Arizona promised.

Callie sighed. "You can't ever say anything like nyou did last night ever again."

The blonde moved and rested her forehead against Callie's. "I won't I promise! I'm so sorry. I love you."

"I know" the brunette answered "but loving someone and wanting to be with them can be two very different things Arizona."

"It's not. Not in this. Not with you and me. Please don't break up with me" Arizona pleaded.

"I won't. But this whole thing has only firmed my belief in the fact that we should wait with going public until after the Emmy's sometime. Because we need to talk some more, figure this out completely and find a way that'll be good for both of us to let it out to the public" Callie said with a soft voice.

Arizona nodded. "We will. We will talk about it all and I'm going to prove to you that I think you're marvelous I promise. We'll wait and we'll sort something out together."

Callie let a small smile graze her lips. "Okay."

"Now can I come in to the living room?" Arizona asked again hesitantly.

The brunette smiled a little at the blonde. "Yes you can."

 **That was it for chapter 33! ;)**

 **What did you guys think? Leave me lots of reviews, thank you :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	34. Chapter 34

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi again guys :)**

 **Sorry about me not updating very often. But my life and work is just a little busy right now so I'm warning you now that updates will probably only come two times a week (if even that) for the foreseeable future. I have some chapters written but I still need to read through them to make sure everything adds up and the grammar is not downright horrible and I just can't do that if I'm dead tired when I get home :/ And on top of that my motivation seems to be lacking a little these days I don't know why :( So please be patient with me! :)**

 **You guys really reacted to this chapter. A lot of you are dividing it into one being the good guy and one being the bad guy in this story and once again I feel the need to tell you that is not the case. They both react to the things happening (although differently) and I just don't think that the story would be believable at all if they didn't! So if you're out for all fluffy stories with two women just embracing their newfound bisexuality from the very first second and not having any frustrations, doubts or problems because of it then my story is not the story for you. I don't really have a thing for either of the characters and I just have them react the way it fits best into my story. And let me remind you that Callie has not been a champ about this all the time either! Okay rant it over… :P Thank you for all of your reviews though - I do like that you're all so invested in this :)**

 **To all the very lovely guest-reviewers; I would love for you to leave some sort of name when you did your reviews. There's a lot of you now (which I LOVE) and it's just making it really hard to reply to you guys here in my ANs without it being all kinds of confusing. So please just write some sort of name, thank you :)**

 **To mientosz: Thank you. I'm really glad you think it was important for their relationship. I like the fact that you seem to understand me ;)**

 **To srock: I love your drawings! And thank you for the very motivational drawing where Callie and Arizona cheered for me – that really lifted my spirits! :D**

 **To Supergirl2121: I heart Arizona too :)**

 **To CoreOfLore: You're welcome. And I'm glad you like that I twist the characters slightly compared to the ones on the show.**

 **To DtownGurl4488: First of all – that's an awesome name ;) And secondly – I know Arizona overacted but Callie does love her, so I'm thinking she's giving her a little more slack because of that :P**

 **To greysfan1995: Lol – well yeah I guess it can change in an instant :D**

 **To the guest who thinks that life is too short to not be with your soulmate: I guess you and I just have very different expectations to being with your soulmate. Because I'm nowhere near as naïve as you are. I don't think there's any way that finding your soulmate equals never fighting or never having problems. I don't believe at all that's how life works. And I get that they fight some in my story, but like I said if you want a story where they just embrace their new found sexuality and live happily ever after without ever fighting about anything, then you should really go read something else!**

 **To the guest who thought this was a powerful chapter: Thank you for your kind words about this chapter and my writing – I'm beyond grateful for that.**

 **To AZsgirl: I love the fact that you just called that to 'pull a Callie' :P And I'm glad you liked it.**

 **To SRiis: Tusind, tusind TAK! :) Jeg er så glad for, at jeg også har danske læsere! Det er en god fornemmelse. Og jeg er glad for, at du kan lide mit engelsk…jeg føler mig dog stadig overbevist om, at jeg kunne have gjort det MEGET bedre på dansk! :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Here's chapter 34 for you - enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER 34:

Arizona opened the front door to Callie's house and went inside. "Callie?" the blonde called out.

"In the kitchen" the brunette called back.

Arizona took off her shoes and went into the kitchen. Callie was standing at the stove with her back to the blonde. Arizona smiled at the sight of her girlfriend. The two of them had been on some kind of rocky ground since the blonde had opened her big mouth and said those hurtful things. Arizona had desperately tried to make it better but she hadn't really succeeded even though Callie had assured her that they were good.

Arizona slowly approached Callie and put her arms around the other woman waist. "These are for you" the blonde softly stated as the bouquet of roses she held in her hand came into the brunette's view.

Callie smiled and took the flowers from the blonde's hand. "Thank you. They are beautiful."

"Just like you" Arizona tenderly stated before she kissed a tanned shoulder.

Then the blonde let go of Callie allowing the other woman to turn around. "Could you keep an eye on dinner? I'm going to go find a vase for those" the brunette said with a smile.

"Sure. It smells delicious by the way" Arizona added as she smiled back at Callie.

Then the brunette left the kitchen and went into the living room. Arizona sighed a little and looked down at the wok with their food simmering on the stove. The blonde picked up the spoon and started stirring it a little. Arizona didn't know what to do anymore. It had been ten days since the incident. The two women had spent the remaining days until Callie had to go back to Las Vegas together both talking about it all and ignoring it. And the blonde had apologized time and time again. Their interaction had been sparse while the brunette had been back in Vegas and the texts Arizona had received from the Callie had been short and distant. Now the brunette was back in LA to shoot new scenes for 'Heart and Hospital' and go to the Emmy's in four nights.

Arizona heard Callie come back into the kitchen and start filling the vase with water. The brunette shuffled around the kitchen a little and Arizona just kept staring down the chicken dish in front of her. The blonde felt Callie come over and stand next to her. "Hey are you okay?" the brunette asked.

The blonde turned around and looked at her girlfriend. "Do you realize you haven't kissed me yet? We haven't seen each other for a week, I brought you flowers and you haven't even looked like someone who wanted to greet me with a kiss" Arizona said obviously sad.

Callie sighed and moved closer to her girlfriend. She looked into the gorgeous blue eyes that she'd fallen so hard for. "I'm really sorry about that. That was inconsiderate of me. Thank you for the flowers hot stuff" the brunette said and reached around pulling Arizona to her so their bodies were flush against each other. "And don't ever think that I don't want to kiss you. Because I always do."

The brunette leaned in and softly kissed pink lips in a lingering kiss. Callie pulled back and smiled at Arizona. "Tell me what I can do to fix it" the blonde gently whispered.

The brunette groaned and removed herself from Arizona. "I already told you a million times Arizona! Everything is fine! Except for the fact that you keep asking me how to fix something that isn't broken!"

"You're lying Callie!" Arizona let out. "And somehow you think I don't know that. But everything is not fine! We've barely talked on the phone this past week and your texts have been distant and short. I don't know what to do" the blonde finished exasperated.

"I have a very busy schedule in Las Vegas Arizona. Since the show started again and I have to switch back and forth it's been grueling back there. It hadn't been any different if you hadn't said those things" Callie stated.

Tears gathered in blue eyes as she looked at the brunette. "I love you. And I know you Calliope. We are not working right now. Our relationship is nothing like it used to be" Arizona softly said with a shaking voice.

Callie stared back at her girlfriend. "Do you want us to break up?" the brunette asked.

Arizona was shocked for a second before shaking her head. "No! Are you even listening to me? I want to fix it!"

"There is nothing to fix!" Callie once again stated but this time with a raised voice. Then the brunette pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can we just drop it? Eat dinner and cuddle up on the couch with a movie or something?

The blonde sighed and wiped away a tear. "Fine." Arizona made her way to the cupboard and took out two plates. Then she got utensils from the drawer and went into the living room. She put the plates down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch with her legs pulled up underneath her. Callie came into the living room with the food and put it down on the table. "Do you want wine?" the brunette softly asked.

"No thank you" the blonde replied while turning on the TV.

"Okay. Then I'm just going to grab us some water okay. Or do you want something else to drink?" Callie asked.

"Water is good" Arizona said with her eyes glued to the screen.

The brunette studied her girlfriend. The blonde had very obviously closed herself off in every way possible. This was not the night Callie wanted. "We can watch 'The Princess Diaries' if you want to" the brunette said before walking back out into the kitchen to get their drinks.

When she came back she sat down on the couch and plated some food before reaching it out to the blonde. Arizona took it wordlessly as the beginning of 'The Princess Diaries' played on the screen.

Callie plated her own food and looked at her girlfriend's profile. She was beautiful. And the brunette was so sad by the fact that their relationship was like this right now. Everything was not fine and the fact that they both knew that just saddened Callie even more. But the brunette honestly had no idea how things could go back to normal.

Arizona felt brown eyes burn holes on the side of her face from the intense look. But the blonde just kept eating and watching the movie. Callie would look away eventually. Arizona hated that things had come to this. It was all awkward and weird between them and the blonde didn't even feel that comfortable being in the brunette's house at the moment.

Callie closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again she leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on an ivory cheek. "I hope you like the food" the brunette gently whispered as she pulled back.

Arizona just kept eating and watching the screen. Callie took a couple of bites of her own food but she just didn't feel all that hungry. She put her plate back down on the coffee table. Then she sighed before looking at the blonde again.

With a little hesitation Callie leaned over and put her head on Arizona's shoulder. The brunette felt the other woman tense up at that gesture and it broke Callie's heart a little. "I know that it's all very confusing Arizona but I'll just like to be close to you tonight. To just be here with you. Can we do that?"

The blonde felt the tension leave her body at those words. First of all she was very relieved that the brunette had finally voiced that it was all a little odd right now. And secondly she was very happy that Callie still wanted to be there with her.

Arizona tilted her head to rest it on top of the brunette's. "Yeah. I'd really like that."

Callie smiled in relief of that and snuggled a little closer to Arizona who was still eating. "This is really good. You should eat some of it. I'm sure you must be hungry and with the schedule you're pulling you really need to eat. I can tell that you've lost more weight with all the stripping you're doing" the blonde stated.

The brunette chuckled a little. "Yeah I know. But I'm not that hungry right now. I'll eat something later."

Arizona took a forkful from her own plate and held it in front of her girlfriend's mouth. "Open up Calliope."

The brunette did as she was told and the blonde put the fork in her mouth. "I'm really not hungry Arizona" Callie mumbled while she chewed. The blonde just smiled and picked up another forkful to put in Callie's mouth once she finished chewing. This time however she completely missed the brunette's mouth and hit her on the cheek with the fork making all the food fall off.

"Arizona" Callie shrieked chuckling as she looked at the food now lying between them on the couch.

"I'm sorry" the blonde quickly let out and shuffled to remove the food. But she stopped as soon as a pair of plump lips connected with hers in a deep, loving kiss. Arizona felt her girlfriend's tongue swipe across her lips and the blonde instantly opened her mouth to let the brunette's tongue in to meet her own.

Arizona sighed the second their tongues met. She'd really missed her girlfriend this past week and she'd been looking forward to this so much. The blonde reached up and pulled Callie even closer by her neck.

When the need for air became too great and the two women pulled apart Arizona kept her hand on Callie's neck preventing the other woman from moving to far away from her. Then the blonde leaned in and pecked velvety lips again.

"I love you" Callie breathed out when pink lips parted from her own.

Arizona smiled and tenderly caressed a tanned neck. "I love you too."

The brunette smiled back. "I'm sorry that things are weird right now. But please stop apologizing. I know you're very sorry Arizona. I just want this, though. I don't want apologies and you looking at me with those sorry eyes. I want this! Cuddling and goofing around on the couch with the occasional making out" the brunette stated. "And then it'll all be back to normal soon enough."

Arizona nodded softly. "Okay. We can do that."

"Thank you" Callie said. Then she chuckled a little. "Now you can clean up the mess you created on this couch."

* * *

Arizona had just finished shooting her scenes for the day and was walking towards the set Callie was shooting in. The brunette would be finished any moment and the two women were supposed to meet at Arizona's apartment later and the blonde just wanted to see how long it would be before the brunette was arriving.

As the blonde made her way through the doors she was met with Callie's beautiful laugh. The brunette was standing with Nathan who was telling some sort of story.

Arizona slowly walked towards the duo while Nathan kept talking and Callie kept laughing. At last Nathan looked away from the brunette and locked eyes with the blonde. "Arizona, hey" he greeted the approaching woman.

Callie, who was still chuckling, turned towards Arizona and smiled. The blonde switched her gaze from Nathan to Callie and smiled back at her girlfriend. Arizona walked up and grabbed the brunette's hand in her own. "Are you ready to leave already?"

"I absolutely am" Callie answered. Then the brunette looked at Nathan. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Nathan smiled at the brunette. "See you tomorrow. And I meant it Callie; I'd love to be your escort to the Emmy's."

"I'll think about it" the brunette answered with a small chuckle before starting to walk towards the exit with Arizona's hand in hers.

When they'd left the set Arizona glanced at the brunette. "You're going to the Emmy's with Nathan?"

Callie smiled at the tone of voice of her girlfriend. The blonde was obviously a little jealous. "No" the brunette answered.

The blonde glanced at Callie once again as they walked towards the exit of the studio. "But you told him that you'd think about it. And you don't have an escort for it."

The brunette stopped walking and pulled Arizona close by her hand. "I find it really cute that you're jealous at him. But you've got nothing to worry about. I'm not going with him Arizona. I've already got an escort and I only told him I'd think about it because he wouldn't let it go. He and I had a lot of fun today and I didn't want to ruin it."

"You have an escort? Who?" Arizona asked surprised. She knew the brunette wasn't going with Mark because he was going with Andrew. The two men really looked forward to their first red carpet event together.

Callie smiled, leaned in and kissed her girlfriend tenderly. "You're adorable" the brunette murmured against pink lips. Then she pulled back completely. "My father is coming with me, sweetie."

"You've asked your father to escort you?" the blonde questioned. She'd never thought that Callie would be taking Carlos.

The brunette smiled. "Yes. I've kind of always wanted to but when I was with Mark it would have been weird if I didn't take him to award shows. And I don't want to go with another actor or something making all kinds of rumors circle around and then having to answer all kinds of questions regarding me dating whoever. I'm with you. And when I'm not going with you I want to take my father" Callie finished.

Arizona smiled. "I'm still up for ditching Tim and going with you instead if you've changed your mind" the blonde gently said.

Callie sighed a little. "We're not getting into this again. We decided on waiting until after the Emmy's. Besides you're not ditching Tim. You promised to take him and you're going to stick with that."

The blonde looked down at their intertwined hands. "I know. I'm sorry for bringing it up again. And I really should stick with Tim. He's really looking forward to it."

The brunette reached up with her free hand and pulled at her girlfriend's chin to make the blonde look at her. "Stop being sorry. We both have the opportunity to take some of the most important men in our lives and show them to the world and we should enjoy that. We'll get to go together for a lot of these things" Callie said with a smile.

"You promise?" Arizona asked with a small smile.

"I promise" the brunette replied. Then she pecked pink lips a few times. "Now let's get out of here. I'm just going to my trailer to get changed and then I'll meet you at your place, okay?"

The blonde smiled in return. "Okay. Bring dinner? I don't care what it is I just don't feel like us cooking anything."

"I will. You're okay with pizza? I haven't had that in what feels like ages" Callie let out.

Arizona chuckled. "Pizza is just fine. See you soon."

With that the blonde made her way to her car while Callie went back to her trailer to get changed.

* * *

"Hey guys! Are you ready to make us all proud at the Emmy's?" Teddy asked as she caught up with Callie and Arizona. Today was Saturday and the cast was in for a table read. They'd switched the table read that was supposed to take place Monday to today making sure the ones going to the Emmy's the next night had a chance to celebrate if they won or just enjoy a good time at the after parties regardless. Thankfully the rest of the cast and crew had been very welcoming to that.

"I'm definitely ready to get the experience of a lifetime. I'm just going to really enjoy it to the fullest. My brother is arriving in a few hours and I think he might be even more excited than me" the blonde said with a chuckle.

"Oh please he's just excited about seeing all of those hot actresses up close" Callie added with a chuckle of her own while squeezing the blonde close to her by her side.

Arizona laughed. "You're probably right about that! What about you Teds? Did you and Addison decide to go?"

The honey-blonde smiled. "Yeah. We figured it would be a good occasion to get out there in public as wives for the first time."

Callie moved away from Arizona and opened the door to the conference room for the other two women to make their way through. "I'm sure the paparazzo will go crazy when you arrive with those lovely shining bands on your fingers being all disgustingly happy" the brunette said making the two other women laugh. "Where is your lovely redhead anyway?"

"She just needed to get something from her office. She'll be here soon" Teddy answered before walking towards her seat at the table.

Callie and Arizona sat down on their own seats. "So tell me what you're wearing tomorrow?" the brunette said.

The blonde shook her head. "No way. You'll just have to wait and see."

The brunette pouted. "Why not?"

Arizona leaned over and kissed a plump pouting lip softly. "Because I'd like to tease you a bit. And to just wow you with my awesome dress tomorrow."

Callie reached up and put a lock of blonde hair behind an ivory ear. "You could wear anything and nothing at all and you'd wow me. But I can't wait to see the dress."

A clearing of a throat made the two women turn their attention to Nathan who had approached them. "Good morning" the man started out "I was just coming to ask what you'd decided Callie?"

The brunette smiled at the man as she watched blue eyes shoot daggers at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'm sticking to my original plan. Thank you though for the offer" Callie politely stated.

Nathan's smile disappeared at those words. "Okay. I respect that. Good luck tomorrow. You too Arizona" he said before turning around and making his way back to his seat.

A small growling noise left pink lips and Callie reached out and put her hand on her girlfriend's thigh. The blonde still kept her eyes trained on Nathan though. The brunette smiled and leaned in to nuzzle her nose against an ivory cheek. "Reel it in hot stuff. He's not a threat to you."

"I'm pretty sure he has another perception of that" Arizona said through gritted teeth.

Callie kissed the blonde's cheek tenderly. "His perception of things doesn't really matter Arizona."

The blonde smiled a little at that and turned her head so her own nose brushed against Callie's. "I know. I just kind of curse your incredible hotness and sincere gentleness sometimes because it makes other people want to do naughty thinks to you. And I should be the only one wanting to do naughty things to you."

"You are the only one getting to actually do what you fantasize about. Don't worry about the rest of them. It's not like there's not a lot of people out there wanting to do all kinds of dirty things to you" Callie gently whispered.

The blonde sighed. "I don't doubt that. I trust you Callie. And I'm sure it'll get better once everyone knows you're off the market. That you're a 'you-can-look-but-if-you-touch-her-then-her-crazy-girlfriend-will-kill-you' kind of woman!" Arizona stated.

The brunette sighed. "Arizona!"

"I know! And we'll wait. I just want people to know that you're mine. I'm really not looking forward to going there tomorrow and have to see all kinds of hot men flirt up a storm with you" the blonde said a little sadly.

Callie kissed pink lips once more. "I'm not going to flirt with anyone. I promise. And if they flirt with me I'll leave and talk to someone else."

Arizona shook her head. "No. You should have fun and enjoy yourself. And everyone will want to flirt with you so you'll just end up sitting alone with your dad. I don't want that."

The brunette chuckled. "I highly doubt that EVERYONE will want to flirt with me. And I could just talk to you and Tim then. I won't be sitting alone with my dad. Which for the record wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to me."

"Alright everyone let's get started" Addison announced as she walked around the room passing out the scripts.

Arizona pulled back from Callie and switched to the first page of the new script. Throughout the entire table read the brunette's hand never left Arizona's thigh. The blonde liked the feeling of her girlfriend wanting to keep in constant contact with her. The episode revolved mainly around Meredith and Derek so the two women didn't have much to do. They both had a couple of scenes with their on-screen partners though that they needed to read through. It seemed that Callie's character might be cheating on Nathan's with Alex's character and the idea made Arizona kind of happy somehow.

When the table read finished everyone got up and started to leave. The ones not going to the Emmy's bid the nominees good luck before they went home to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

When Callie and Arizona made their way through the door a very familiar voice greeted them. "Az."

The blonde turned to her right and smiled at the sight of her big brother. "Tim. You're finally here!" Arizona said before walking up to her brother and flinging her arms around him for a big hug.

"I've been looking forward to this like you wouldn't believe" Tim stated while untangling himself from his sister's hug and moving towards the brunette. "Hi Callie" he said before engulfing the brunette in a bone crushing hug. "Thank you you're the best! I'm really looking forward to starting Georgia Tech in two weeks."

Callie smiled. "You're very welcome Tim. I'm really happy I could help you with this. I'm sure you'll do great."

"Hey. I'm your sister and I get some crappy hug and then she gets a hug like that. That's not fair" Arizona said with a pout while crossing her arms across her chest.

Callie chuckled as Tim released her. "Relax hot stuff. You can hug him all night if you want to" the brunette stated as she pulled Arizona to her. Plump lips captured pink ones in a searing kiss that left them both a little breathless. "You should take him sightseeing for the rest of the day. And then I'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon."

"You don't want to come with us?" Tim asked.

The brunette smiled at her girlfriend's brother. "No you two should go together. Spend some much needed sibling time. I'll go with you the next time."

Arizona leaned up and kissed Callie one more time. "Thank you. I'm going to miss you though. But I'll see you tomorrow. It'll be me looking all hot in my awesome dress" the blonde deadpanned.

Callie chuckled. "I can't wait hot stuff."

The blonde smiled as she pulled away from the brunette. "Me neither."

"Don't forget to work on your acceptance speech!" the brunette threw over her shoulder as she walked to the door.

* * *

Carlos put his hand on his daughter's knee to get her attention before they got out of the limo. "I just want to tell you, that no matter what happens tonight, your mother and I are very proud of you, hermosa." It was Sunday and after spending practically the whole day preparing Callie and her father had now arrived at the Emmy's.

The brunette smiled and reached down to take her father's hand in her own. "Thank you papi. That means a lot to me. And it is kind of weird going into this without actually hoping to win. Don't get me wrong it would be amazing to be acknowledged for my work but she just really deserves it. I love her. I want her amazing abilities to be seen by the world and I want her to be happy" the brunette finished.

"You're a very extraordinary woman Calliope. And I'm so amazed that you're my daughter and that I have helped shape you into the person you are today. You serve as such a great example to your younger sisters" Carlos said with a voice full of awe.

Callie's smile got even bigger. "Thank you" the woman breathed out.

"Okay. Let's do this" Carlos stated as he squeezed his daughter's hand one last time before releasing it to make it possible for the woman to turn towards the door. Callie tapped on the window and the door was opened for her. Carlos could hear the crowd going wild as his daughter effortlessly got out of the car.

The brunette smiled and waved at the crowd as soon as she was out of the car. She straightened her flowing baby blue dress and waited for her dad to make his way out of the car before looping her arm through his and stepping onto the red carpet for real. When they'd made it a little up the carpet Callie heard the crowd go wild again and start chanting for Arizona. The brunette couldn't help but smile at the sound of the fans cheering for her girlfriend.

Callie chanced looking down the red carpet and as soon her eyes found Arizona the brunette felt her knees go weak. The blonde looked breathtaking. She was wearing a gorgeous tightfitting black dress and she looked so unbelievably happy as she smiled out to the crowd and hugged Tim closer to her side with her hair flowing shlighty in the wind.

"She looks beautiful hermosa" Carlos whispered into his daughter's ear making her smile again.

"…and here comes Callie Torres. Callie do you have a minute?" the sound of the reporter broke the brunette from her spell and she stepped forward smiling still with her arm lopped through her father's.

The brunette smiled at the camera and waved a little as she made her way to the small podium with her father by her side.

"Welcome to this year's Emmy's Callie. You've been here before I know but I'm still going to ask how it feels to be here?" the reporter said with a smile.

Callie smiled back and looked around. "I love being here. It's so incredible being greeted like that by the fans. If they weren't there I wouldn't have a job. And I really love the Emmy's. So I'm excited to be here."

"And you've brought your father this year I'm guessing?" the reporter followed.

"I have. I've always wanted to take him with me because he and my mother have been so supportive of me always. So I'm happy I get to bring him tonight now that I'm single and don't have anyone who expects to tag along" the brunette said as she smiled at her father and hugged him a little tighter to her.

"Yeah you recently divorced Mark Sloan. Have your eye on anyone new?" the smiling woman asked.

Callie had to fight the urge not to roll her eyes at that question. "I don't know if I would say that it was recently because we split up more than a year ago. But no I don't have my eye on anyone new. I'm enjoying just being myself for a while."

The reporters gaze flicked behind Callie. "Oh here comes one of your co-stars and fellow nominees. Arizona? Do you have a minute?" the woman called out.

The blonde smiled and made her way to the reporter with Tim tagging behind her. "Hi" Arizona said and smiled at the three people already gathered at the podium.

Callie smiled in greeting and Carlos nodded his head and offered the blonde a soft smile.

"So Arizona. Your very first Emmy's! How is it?" the reporter asked.

"It's amazing" the blonde answered with sparkling eyes and a big smile. "I love it already and I feel so incredibly honored to be here."

The reporter smiled back at the blonde. "You're up against some real titans in your category. One of them is standing right here as a matter of fact. How does that feel?"

Arizona kept smiling as she chuckled a little. "Well how do you think that feels? I'm terrified. And again very honored. To even dream about ever being in the same league as any of them seemed so ridiculous to me only a few years back and yet here I am with my brother by my side about to battle some of the most talented actresses in the business. That's kind of hard to even comprehend. I'm trying really hard to just memorize all of this. But I have to say that I just love getting to be a part of a show that has so many loving and dedicated fans. It's awesome!"

Callie smiled at those words as she looked at the very excited and very gorgeous blonde.

"Well those were some very heartfelt words. How do you think Arizona has adapted to being a part of 'Heart and Hospital' family Callie?" the reporter asked as she turned the microphone towards the brunette.

The brunette locked eyes with her girlfriend and smiled at her. "I think Arizona has very quickly become a very integrated part of the cast and crew. It's my perception that she's very well-liked among everyone that works at 'Heart and Hospital'. And she's obviously playing her part very well otherwise she wouldn't be here."

Callie kept her eyes trained on the blonde as she spoke and Arizona gave her a dazzling smile in return. Then the brunette moved her gaze and smile to the reporter.

The reporter smiled back. "Thank you Callie. And I wish you the best of luck tonight."

Callie smiled and moved down the podium again leaving Arizona and Tim with the eager reporter.

* * *

"And now it's time to what I think is the most exciting category of the evening. We've got some major TV-titans in terms of outstanding supporting actresses in a drama series. And then we have the very charming and talented outsider" the host announced.

Callie's eyes instantly went to the blonde sitting further down the row closer to the center of the room. Blue eyes found brown and the brunette mouthed a 'good luck' to her girlfriend who mouthed it right back.

Then the brunette turned her attention back to the stage where the presenter was now going through the nominees.

"…Arizona Robbins as Dr. Jessica Carter in 'Heart and Hospital'. Martina Marshall as Mrs. Adrienne Parson in 'Forever and a Day'. And Callie Torres as Dr. Sara Restaz in 'Heart and Hospital'."

The presenter smiled out to the crowd as he ripped open the envelope. "And the Emmy goes to…"

Callie held her breath. She was 100 percent sure she wasn't going to win herself and from the very beginning she'd channeled all of her energy into praying that Arizona won. The blonde really deserved it because she had been amazing her first season on 'Heart and Hospital' and her part had been by far the most challenging this season.

Arizona felt her heart speed up a little. She knew that her chance of winning this was really slim but Callie had mentioned time and time again that she really believed that the blonde had a shot at winning tonight and multiple of the other actors and actresses being there tonight had come up to her congratulating her on her great work. But still Arizona didn't dare hope to win. So she tried calming her racing heart.

"…Arizona Robbins!" the presenter finished.

The blonde felt all air leave her lungs in an instant when her name was announced. She won. She actually won. What the hell? Arizona looked at Tim who was one big smile. "I won" she breathed out with a smile.

"You won!" Tim said before hugging his sister really tight. "I'm so proud of you. I mean I was regardless but I just want you to know that I'm really, really proud of you!"

Arizona hugged her brother back while smiling. "Thank you."

Tim pulled back. "Now go get your award!"

The blonde woman stood from her seat. She locked eyes with Callie for a second and tears of appreciation of her girlfriend almost rose in blue eyes. Arizona gathered herself and smiled at Derek who'd put his hand on her arm congratulating her. Then the blonde made her way to the stage on shaking legs. She'd actually won. She still couldn't quite believe that.

When she got there the presenter, Thomas Hawking big a-list actor, greeted her with the Emmy and a hug. "Congratulations! I'm so happy you won. I totally rooted for you" he whispered and that made the blonde smile really big.

Then the blonde made her way to the microphone while looking down at the award. When she reached the mic she drew in a big breath before releasing it along with a 'wow'. Then she looked out to the crowd. She was kind of blinded by the stage lights though. "This is surreal. It was surreal when I got nominated but THIS is very surreal. And there are so many people who deserve to be thanked in this. Thank you, obviously, to those who decided that I was worthy of this award. A big thank you to you, Addison, for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play such a strong character. Thank you Mark for being such an amazing on-screen partner to me. Thank you to everyone else, who's a part of 'Heart and Hospital' somehow. You all tribute to make going to work pure joy with your awesome, fun and kind personalities."

Arizona paused for a second and looked down at Tim. "Thank you Timothy. If you haven't been the most unselfish big brother this world has ever seen I probably wouldn't even be standing here. And thank you to my mom and dad who's been there for me my entire life and continue to shower me with love and understanding in ways I find it hard to comprehend. Me standing up here tonight is a Robbins team effort and I couldn't be prouder or happier to be part of the Robbins clan from Little Creek, Georgia. Thank you" the blonde finished as she held the award up a little.

Arizona turned around to make it off the stage. Her eyes briefly caught the outline of Callie and that made the blonde stop. She took in a breath and turned around again moving back to the microphone. As she got there she tried to lock her eyes on her girlfriend but the light pointed at the stage blinded her once again. "Actually" she softly started "I forgot to thank a very important person. And I know I've used up all of my time but believe me you guys will want to let me do this" the blonde said as she looked to her left and locked her gaze on the producer standing there.

Then she looked out to the room full of some of the business' most talented people. "There's someone that this past year has gone from being someone I only knew by name to being my everything. And I need a moment to pay tribute to the fact that there's a person out there that lights up my life in the most unbelievable ways. That trusts that only the sky is the limit to my dreams. That makes me believe the next day is going to be even better than the previous one. And that makes me feel like I deserve to be loved unconditionally."

Arizona shifted a little and looked down to where she knew Callie was sitting. "Callie Torres. Thank you for being the most caring woman I've ever met. Thank you for rooting for me today because you knew how much this meant to me even though you were nominated too. Thank you for time after time putting my needs before your own. Thank you for opening your heart for me and letting me in. You make me unbelievably happy and I love you."

The room was completely silent and Arizona felt like her heartbeat could be heard in the entire room. Then the signature music of the Emmy's started playing and the blonde turned around once again and left the stage.

Callie had felt all color drain from her face the instant Arizona had started her second speech and she watched with wide eyes and an open mouth as the blonde walked off stage. Arizona had just outed them to the entire world on live TV. This was not good.

The brunette felt a hand connect with her own and looked to her side to lock eyes with her father's. Carlos smiled at his daughter and squeezed her hand. "That was some really beautiful words she said to you Calliope."

"Beautiful?" Callie let out in disbelief. Then she looked around her and found practically everyone staring at her. She caught Mark's eyes that conveyed understanding but somehow also told her to try and calm down. Then she looked back at her father. "She just had me come out in front of everyone without even notifying me. Who the hell does that?"

Carlos squeezed her hand again aware that the camera could be pointed at them at any moment due to this turn of events. "Hermosa you're in love with her and she's in love with you. That is a good thing and you should want to show that to the world. You told me you both wanted to go public after the Emmy's. You just didn't want it affecting the way people would talk about it if one of you won. And that has been avoided. I think what she just did for you was absolutely beautiful."

Callie shook her head. "I need to get out of here" the brunette stated before standing from her seat and making her way to the exit.

 **That's it for chapter 34! I really hope you guys liked it.**

 **Leave me many, many reviews thank you :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	35. Chapter 35

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Oh my God I'm so sorry! :/ SO SORRY! I know I've been AWOL for like forever and I feel really bad about that. But I've just had so many things going on; busy at work, spent a lot of time worrying about someone very dear to my heart, then topped with some emotionally draining days that exhausted me and some really, really good days that made me extremely happy. Sadly all that meant that HD &HD got pushed in the background. But I'm back now with the next chapter and I hope that counts for something… ;)**

 **Thank you for all of your nice an encouraging reviews and messages both here and on Twitter 3 You guys are the best! :)**

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 **For the guest who's annoyed with my long author notes: That's just my style! I like to appreciate the people who take the time to comment on my work. And I think it's pretty clear where the AN stops and the story begins so scrolling through it shouldn't be that difficult or take that long even though you do it on a phone – I've read fanfictions with long ANs on my phone too and it really wasn't a problem.**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Better late than never – here's chapter 35. HAPPY READING! :D**

CHAPTER 35:

"Pick up, pick up, pick up. Please pick up. FUCK" Callie let out while pacing back and forth in the small hallway with her phone pressed to her ear.

"Hello? Big-C?" was finally voiced on the other end.

The brunette breathed a sigh of relief. "Jael. Thank God!"

"Where the hell are you? Why aren't you in your seat? Where's papi? And where's Arizona?" Jael fired. She'd watched her sister's girlfriend make a very sweet and heartfelt speech one minute and the next minute the TV had shown Callie's seat occupied by a chair filler.

Callie sighed. "I don't know if I can do this Jael. As soon as she started talking I felt like I was going to throw up. What if I don't want this? We don't even know what this'll do to us. And we haven't even thought about handling the press. This is such a mess and I don't know…"

"STOP!" Jael cut off her big sister's rant. "What do you mean 'what if you don't want this'? I've seen you guys together. You love her. And more importantly she loves you. She'd never do anything to purposely hurt you or make you feel bad. What she did just now was done out of love and gratitude for YOU hermanita. She wanted to make sure that everyone knew that you were a big factor in her success. That's not a bad thing."

The older brunette felt tears prick her eyes. "But I'm not sure I am ready for this Jael" Callie croaked out.

Jael closed her eyes at the sound of her sister's heartbroken voice. "You are ready for this. But it's scary. I get that. And you're afraid that things between you will change due to this. And that the press will throw themselves at you everywhere you go. But you've been ready for this for a long time Big-C. I know for certain. As for handling the press that's why you've got Natalie. She's probably already talking to Shannon from PR and they'll come up with something. It's their job hermanita" the younger Torres softly stated.

"I don't know what to do if I go back into that room" Callie said with a big sigh.

"I know it is a whole new world and that you feel blindsided. But sitting here with mama, Aria and Rei watching her go back to that microphone and dedicate an entire second speech to you with so much love in her eyes and voice was amazing. I'm so happy for you that you've found someone like her" Jael said with a small smile before adding "Aria and mama had a few tears running down their cheeks while watching it Big-C. And you know Rei; she squealed in delight and is now wondering when she can put a picture on Instagram of the two of you. The important people support you in this hermanita. This is a good thing."

Callie chuckled a little at that. "Thank you Jael."

"You're welcome. Now go back in there!" Jael stated.

"I will. And I'll call you tomorrow" the older brunette said before disconnecting the call.

Callie put her phone back in her clutch and closed her eyes for a second as she leaned against the wall. She knew she had to go back in there but deep down she didn't feel like it. The brunette knew that Arizona really wanted their relationship to be public and looking back now Callie really wished they'd just casually strolled into a restaurant hand in hand and had let some crappy shots from a random smartphone out them. Because this was too much.

The brunette reluctantly moved from the wall and started her way back to the big theater.

* * *

Arizona still felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest. She'd done the photo session that she needed to do after winning and she'd posed with her Emmy for what felt like a million years. Now she was finally on her way back to her seat.

As the blonde walked out to the audience seating again the first thing she noticed was the chair filler in the chair next to Carlos Torres. Arizona's heart sank at the sight and she felt tears rise in her eyes as everyone else in the audience let their eyes fall on her. The blonde moved her gaze from Callie's chair to her brother's comforting one and she felt like she was about to collapse right then and there from heartbreak. But before that happened she felt strong arms wrap around her and the unique scent of Mark Sloan that the blonde somehow knew so well reached her nostrils.

"Congratulations Blondie. I'm so proud I get to say that my work-girlfriend is an amazing Emmy winner!" Mark said with a big smile on his face as he pulled back from the hug but his eyes conveyed sympathy with the absence of the blonde's girlfriend.

"When did she leave? And where did she go" Arizona asked with a crack in her voice.

"I don't know where she went. She left when you finished the second part of your speech. I think she was just surprised Arizona. She's going to come around. But just for the record she's an idiot if she's not going to actually listen to WHAT you said instead of WHERE you said it" Mark stated as he softly caressed Arizona's back.

"Thank you Mark" the blonde breathed out. "I just couldn't help it. I needed to thank her so badly. But I'm scared that I messed it all up. I can't lose her."

Mark pulled back and placed a kiss on Arizona's cheek. "You won't. But you know Callie, Arizona. I think she left because she needed to process all of this without having an audience. We both know that the second you left the stage all eyes, and probably cameras, turned to her."

The blonde sighed. "I hope you're right."

Then Arizona made her way to her seat. Tim got up and gave his sister a big, tight hug. "You're amazing Arizona. And sending you to college was obviously the right decision."

The blonde let a single tear escape her eyes. "But she left."

"She'll come back Az. Don't worry. And please don't let that cloud the experience. Because you won a freaking Emmy! That is HUGE!" Tim tried to soothe his sister.

A clearing of the throat made the two siblings part and Arizona turned around and came face to face with Carlos Torres. The man smiled softly at the blonde and reached out to put a hand on Arizona's upper arm. "Congratulations on the award Arizona. I have to admit I don't watch the show as religiously as the rest of the family but from what I've seen you really deserve it."

The blonde smiled at her girlfriend's father. "Thank you Mr. Torres."

"Please. It's Carlos to you" the older man softly said.

Arizona smiled at him for a second before her expression got serious and she furrowed her brows. "Did she say anything to you before she left?"

Carlos sighed a little and gave the blonde an encouraging smile. "You really took her by surprise Arizona. And she's not always good at handling that. She likes to be in control of things."

The blonde smiled a little at the thought of her girlfriend and her need to be the one handling things. "Yes he does" then Arizona sighed "do you think she's going to come back here?"

The older man smiled and pulled Arizona in for a short hug "I don't think she could stay away even if she wanted to."

When Carlos released Arizona his eyes caught his daughter making her way back into the room. The blonde picked up on his line of sight and whipped her head around to watch Callie take her seat again without even looking in Arizona's direction.

Carlos put a comforting hand on the blonde's back and winked at her before making his way back to his own seat. He sat down next to his daughter and smiled. "So which one of them calmed you down?"

Callie chuckled a little. "Jael."

"Really? I would have bet good money on it being your mother" Carlos stated.

The brunette started fiddling a little with her hands. "Jael has been the one to be there for me from the very beginning of all of this. She somehow knows exactly what to say" Callie gently said.

Carlos reached over and put one of his hands on top of his daughter's fiddling ones. "You've got her really, really worried Hermosa. And that's not right. She should enjoy this night."

Callie turned her head and looked at her father. "She was the one who stood up there and told people! If she wanted to enjoy her night without having to worry then she shouldn't have said anything!"

The man smiled at his daughter. "Did it occur to you that she just couldn't help herself Calliope? She's in love with you and she wants to scream it from the rooftops. Or in this case from the Emmy-stage!"

The brunette couldn't help but smile a little. "You think she did it because she couldn't help herself?"

"Yes I do. This is a big night for her and you tend to want to share those with your loved ones" Carlos told his daughter with a smile.

Callie let her eyes wander down the row to her blonde haired girlfriend who was smiling at something Meredith said. The brunette could easily tell though that something was weighing heavily on the blonde because her shoulders were obviously very tense. "She still shouldn't just have decided to do it."

Carlos squeezed his daughter's hands. "I know. But give her and this whole situation the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it will turn out that she made a really good decision. She's a wonderful woman Hermosa. And apparently very talented. I'm very proud to have an Emmy-winner as a daughter-in-law!"

The brunette smiled at her father. "Thank you papi. That means a lot to me!"

Before Carlos had the chance to respond the host and hostess introduced the next presenter. It was time for the outstanding supporting actor in a drama series. Callie looked down the rows of chairs and caught Mark's eye for a second. 'You've got this' she mouthed and sent her ex-husband a big smile.

Mark then shifted his gaze to lock eyes with Arizona and the brunette couldn't help but smile as Mark's own smile got even wider as the blonde obviously mouthed something to him too.

"And the Emmy goes to…"

Everyone turned their attention to the presenter who tore the envelope open. Callie couldn't help but really wish for Mark to win. Not only had his acting improved immensely but she knew that winning this would do wonders for Mark's thoughts and dreams for his future career.

"…Mark Sloan!" the presenter finished and Callie whipped her head to look at her former lover who looked to be in a state of shock. Then he turned his head smiled at his boyfriend and leaned in to give him what was clearly a very heartfelt kiss.

Mark then got up from his chair and made his way to the stage. He received a hug and a kiss on the cheek from the actress presenting before she handed him the award.

"Wow! This thing is a lot heavier than you would think" Mark started as he weighed the award in his hand. "Addison – thank you for being such an awesome boss and keeping me on the show this long. I know you mostly did it because I was kind of a package deal when you wanted Callie but I'm still very grateful."

That made laughs come from the audience and Callie herself smiled as Mark briefly winked at her. "Thank you Arizona. For amazing teamwork and for making me want to do better so we could tell the story properly. And thank you to everyone at 'Heart and Hospital' in general. You guys are family to me."

Mark then shifted his gaze to Andrew and his whole demeanor softened. "Andrew honey! Thank you for being there for me not only tonight but for quite a while now. I've shared my tears and my joy with you and you haven't once asked me to shut up. I love you."

Callie watched as her ex-husband turned and looked at her and her father. "Also a big and heartfelt thank you to the entire Torres family. The importance of your support these past ten years cannot be put into words. Thank you for giving me a family. A place to rest. I miss all of you. My biggest thank you tonight though goes out to you Callie. You are such an amazing human being and I'm so grateful I got ten years as the person closest to you and that I can still call you a friend. You were always my biggest support and I know it's kind of paradoxically that I'm standing up here now that we're divorced. But you still got me here. Without you I would have given up on the whole thing years ago."

Then Mark chuckled a little. "I guess you're really the hot topic for the acceptance speeches tonight, huh Cal? But who can blame us. You're impossible not to love."

With that Mark finished with one last thank you and then made his way off stage.

* * *

Once again a commercial break had paused the Emmy's and all the guests were chatting.

Callie glanced down the row at Arizona. The blonde was talking quietly with Meredith and Derek but it was clear that she was really sad. The brunette felt her heart clench. Her mind was still very much in battle. But her heart knew what she wanted to do. She desperately wanted Arizona to feel better.

The brunette passed her clutch to her father who gave her a knowing look and an encouraging smile as Callie resolutely rose from her seat and walked towards the blonde. Blue eyes flicked to her own and Callie felt like slapping her self across the face when the first emotion that flashed through amazing blue eyes was regret combined with a small amount of fear.

Callie smiled at Arizona and stopped right in front of her girlfriend. She locked her eyes on those of her blonde girlfriend. "Congratulations Arizona. I'm so incredibly proud of you" the brunette gently said.

"Thank you" Arizona breathed out. Then she sighed "Callie, I…"

"No" the brunette interrupted as she shook her head. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Tonight you're going to enjoy this experience to the fullest. This is your night sweetheart."

The blonde smiled a little. "Okay."

Callie then bent down slightly and reached for Arizona's hand. She pulled the blonde to her feet and engulfed her in a big tight hug. She felt the blonde exhale against her neck and smiled into blonde locks.

"I love you. So much." Arizona croaked out.

"I know. I love you too" Callie gently said. "I'm going to go back to my seat now before commercials are over."

Arizona nodded her head and let her girlfriend pull back from their embrace. "Yeah. Do that."

Callie smiled and kissed her girlfriend one last time before going back. Her father handed her clutch back to her. "How did that feel?" Carlos asked his daughter.

"Good" Callie breathed out.

"Well maybe then this whole thing isn't so bad after all" Carlos softly replied.

* * *

The Emmy Awards were over and people from the audience were either congratulating some of the winners or making their way out of the room.

Callie and her father were still sitting in their chairs talking when Addison approached them. "Hi Cal" the red head said before turning to address the man "Mr. Torres."

The brunette smiled at her friend. "Hi Ads. Two out of three, huh? Not bad!"

Addison chuckled. "No definitely not. But I feel bad for Meredith though. She deserves to win soon. But it's a tough category."

Callie raised one of her eyebrows. "Oh so you're saying that Arizona's or Mark's were much easier wins? Thank you Ads" the brunette said with a chuckle.

The red head laughed at that comment. "I didn't say that. And even though I hoped for Arizona to win I didn't really think she could do it. But she has done better her first season with us than I ever dared to hope for."

"She has. You should make sure to keep her around" Callie added with a smile.

Addison smiled back. "So should you, Cal!"

The brunette's smile faltered for just a second before returning. "So where's your lovely wife?"

The red head turned her head and looked in the direction of Teddy. "She's congratulating Arizona and Mark. Still."

Callie laughed as she watched a very excited Teddy jump up and down before taking the Emmy from Arizona's hands and inspecting it. The honey-blonde started talking again and then pointed over to Addison, Callie and Carlos. Arizona turned to Tim, who smiled at his sister while nodding his head.

Then the threesome along with Mark and Andrew made their way towards the red head and the two members of the Torres family.

"Congratulations Mark" Carlos said with obvious pride in his voice as he hugged his former son in law. "And thank you for those really kind words for me and my family."

"No need to thank me for that Carlos. I always felt every bit as welcome in your home as Callie did and I'm really grateful for that" Mark honestly replied.

Callie then moved to Mark and hugged him too. "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. You've really improved during this season."

"Thank you Cal" Mark said with a smile and placed a small kiss on top of brunette locks. "I think it's safe to say that Arizona and I work very well together."

The blonde chuckled next to them. "Yeah. So don't get any funny ideas Addison" Arizona said with a pointed glare to the red head.

Addison laughed at the fire burning in blue eyes. "I shouldn't break up a winning team, huh? But don't you think the other people need to win Emmy's too. Poor Andrew, Callie and Teddy shouldn't be left out."

"Callie's already got a Tony award. She doesn't need an Emmy anyway too" Arizona deadpanned.

"Hey!" the brunette let out before pouting a little.

The other seven people chuckled at the expression on the brunette's face. Then Carlos spoke up. "I think I'm going to head out of here. My plane is waiting for me at the airport."

"You're not going to come to the after parties? I hoped that we'd have a chance to talk" Mark said with a little sadness in his voice.

Carlos smiled at the actor. "No I'm going to pass on that. But I'm going to let you know the next time I'm in LA and then we can have dinner. I would love to get a chance to talk to you and catch up."

"Really?" Mark asked uncertainly.

"Of course Mark" Carlos answered. "You were part of our family for almost a decade. And in some parts you always will be."

"So you're going to the after parties dateless Cal?" Addison asked.

Callie chuckled. "Well thank you for making it sound that pathetic Addison. But yes I am."

Then the brunette turned towards her father. "Thank you for escorting me papi. Get home safe okay. And take the limo I'll just ride with some of these guys."

Carlos leaned in and kissed his daughter's cheek. "Thank you for asking me to come with you Hermosa."

Then the man turned towards Arizona and kissed her cheek too. "And congratulations again Arizona. Make sure you bring that award with you when you and Callie come visit the next time or my youngest daughter will kill you."

Arizona chuckled and smiled at her girlfriend's father. "I will."

Carlos held his hand out for Tim to shake. "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk. I'll make sure there's more time for that the next time we meet."

"I'm sorry too sir. I would have liked to have had the chance to thank you properly for getting me in to Georgia Tech." Tim said while shaking Carlos' hand.

"No need to thank me. But I'm going to want to hear how you like it there" the older Torres finished.

With one last goodbye Carlos made his way towards the exit.

Tim looked at Callie with this weird expression on his face that the brunette couldn't really decipher.

"I don't think it's appropriate for an Emmy nominee to go dateless to the after parties" the blonde man stated.

"Well there's not really anything I can do about that" Callie said with a chuckle.

Tim nodded his head. "Yes there is. Because I think the perfect date for an Emmy nominee would be an Emmy winner" the blonde man finished as he looked at his sister. "Take your girlfriend to the after parties Arizona."

The blonde woman smiled at her brother. Then she looked at the brunette. "What do you say? Want to be my date for the after parties?"

"What about Tim?" Callie asked with a small smile.

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "He's a big guy he doesn't need a date. I want to walk down the red carpet and past all the photographers with my girlfriend by my side. Well if she wants to too that is" the blonde finished while looking down.

Callie stepped up to Arizona and grabbed her hand. "I don't really think we have any choice but to go toghether actually. And I do want to. No kissing in front of them though. Can we wait to do that? I know they're going to ask but I think I need some time to get used to it."

"Of course" Arizona nodded. "We can just hold hands and that's it."

Callie smiled and squeezed an ivory hand. "Thank you."

* * *

After a quick detour to change their dresses to something less gala and more casual Callie and Arizona arrived to the setting of the Emmy HBO after party along with Tim. Neither Callie nor Arizona had anticipated the amount of flashes going off as they stepped out of the limo though. The brunette stepped back a little and squeezed Arizona's hand tight. The blonde squeezed back and smiled reassuringly at her girlfriend.

Then the duo started to make their way down the very long carpet hand in hand. All of the photographers were shouting at them to look in their directing and to give each other a kiss.

They politely declined every time but did pose a few times standing really closely together and Arizona was sure that some of the photographers got a few pictures of her looking really lovingly at the brunette. But she just couldn't help herself because she found Callie absolutely breathtaking and it was like her eyes were just drawn to the brunette.

When they finally made it to the end and inside the room where the party was held Arizona heard Callie exhale as if she hadn't taken a breath since they stepped out of the limo. "Shit that was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done" the brunette let out as she grabbed a flute of champagne from a bartender that offered it to her.

The blonde felt a stab to her heart at those words. Arizona let go of Callie's hand and grabbed a flute of champagne for herself. She downed the liquid in one gulp. "Well then it's good that it's over, huh?"

Arizona then turned around to go look for Teddy and Addison but a hand on her arm stopped her. "I didn't mean it like that. Please don't take it the wrong way. But didn't you find it uncomfortable?" Callie softly asked.

"Yeah I did" the blonde answered. "But the most dominant feeling was still happiness that I got walk there with your hand in mine."

"It's not that I'm not happy I get to do that Arizona. I am. I like how your hand fits perfectly in mine and I never ever want to let go. But I didn't like that they were almost killing each other to get the best picture of us. I can't help but fear how it's going to be like for us for the next few months" the brunette explained.

Arizona gave Callie a small smile. "You see that's the difference. I don't fear that. Because I believe we can do anything if we just do it together." Then the blonde turned around and started looking for her best friend and her wife.

* * *

The blonde found Teddy and Addison standing off to the side laughing. Addison reached out and put a lock of honey-blonde hair behind Teddy's ear and Teddy closed her eyes and leaned into the red head's touch.

Arizona couldn't help but smile at the sight as she walked closer. She really hoped that Callie and her would reach a place of being together so effortlessly in public too. But right now the blonde was afraid that her actions with her speech did so much harm that Callie's dominant feeling about all of it would always be fear of what would happen next.

"Hi Arizona" Addison greeted her with a smile as she came up to them. "Where's Callie?"

"She's over by the entrance I think" the blonde replied.

The red head furrowed her brows in confusion. "I thought you got here together?"

Arizona nodded her head. "We did. And that was quite the experience."

Addison instantly picked up the blonde's tone and sent her wife a knowing look. "I'm going to go see if I can find her." Then the red head left the two blonde's alone.

"So spill it. What's going on?" Teddy asked.

Arizona sighed. "We walked the red carpet. And the paparazzis were like vultures. She was very clearly uncomfortable and she's really scared of what's going to happen during the next few months media wise and I just want to not think about that and enjoy the fact I can hold her hand whenever the fuck I feel like it. Urgh!"

Teddy chuckled a little at her friend but stopped the second two hard blue eyes landed on her. "Sorry. It's just that you two are like fire and ice sometimes. And none of you get the other one. I get that you just want to live in the moment Arizona. But being with Callie Torres means that you don't get to do that all the time. Because she doesn't work that way."

The blonde's expression softened at her friend's words. "I just want to make the very best of being with her. And I'd just hoped she wanted to do the same."

The honey-blonde smiled at her friend. "Her being scared about what the future holds does not mean she doesn't want to make the best of being with you. Actually I think she's scared because she DOES want to make the best of being with you!"

Arizona smiled at Teddy. "You're so smart. Thank you."

Teddy chuckled. "Come on. Let's go find out ladies."

* * *

Callie almost jumped out of her skin as she was shaken from her thoughts when a mojito was put down on the table in front of her and Addison appeared in her line of sight. "A penny for your thoughts" the red head said as she sipped her own mojito.

The brunette sighed. "She really took me by surprise tonight. And I just felt like beaming myself out of that place the second she said my name. And I feel bad about that because I really want to just be over the moon happy about the fact that I can now tell the world that this amazing woman is mine!"

"Well I think she made sure that the world already knows that" Addison deadpanned.

"Ads" Callie whined.

"What?" the red head laughed. "It's true!"

The brunette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know. I was there remember."

"I'm not going to stand here and defend what she did Cal. Because we can easily agree that it wasn't okay. But I think you need to relax a little about the whole thing. You're my best friend and I know you. You're just all about knowing what'll happen next. You're always the first of the cast members to pester me about what'll happen to your character at the beginning of every season. But shed that a little and enjoy her. Because she's really good for you" Addison said with a small smile.

"I do not pester you!" Callie stated as she squinted her eyes at her friend. "And you're right. I maybe need to try and meet her in the middle a little."

"You do! And just try Cal. What's the worst that can happen anyway?"

* * *

Arizona smiled as she watched Callie laugh with Tim, Addison and Beatrice Barnes. She made her way over there and smiled at Tim. Then she turned to her brown haired girlfriend. "Come with me for a second?"

Callie smiled and held her hand out for Arizona to take. The blonde looked back to her brother. "Are you going to be okay here alone for a while?"

Tim nodded his head. "Of course. And besides I'm not alone. I'm with these two lovely ladies. Oh and here comes a third one" Tim added when he spotted Teddy walking up to them as well. "You two go do whatever you need to do."

"Thank you" Arizona said before she started dragging Callie towards the doors.

"Where are we going?" Callie asked as she was dragged by the hand down a long corridor.

"I don't know. Somewhere private" the blonde said as she opened the door to a room. It turned out to be an empty conference room of some sort and Arizona decided it was good enough. She let go of the brunette's hand, pushed the other woman inside before following and closing the door.

Callie stepped over to the table and leaned against it. "Soooo? What are we doing here?"

Arizona intertwined her own hands and looked down at them. "I thought that I maybe needed to explain to you what happened up there tonight? I mean I made you leave the room." The blonde added the last part so low that the brunette almost missed it.

Callie stepped up to her girlfriend and reached out to put a hand on Arizona's chin and make the blonde look at her. "To be fair I was taken completely by surprise Arizona. I had no idea what to do with myself!" the brunette said. "And I do think that it was a bit inconsiderate of you. Because coming out to the world is kind of a big deal Arizona! And I had zero influence on how it happened for me. You just decided what was the best approach for us. And I don't know how to feel about that" Callie added.

The blonde closed her eyes for a second. "I know" Arizona said as she opened her eyes again and looked into the deep brown ones of her girlfriend. "And I'm sorry. But I find you so incredibly amazing. And I couldn't just not let people know how important you are to me and how much you've contributed to the fact that I was standing up there on that stage with that award."

Callie chuckled a little. "Well you've definitely made sure that you're going to be one of the Emmy winners people remember."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "That was not why I did it."

"I know Arizona" the brunette softly stated. "It's true though. It's not that often one of the new up-and-coming stars announce that she's in a same-sex relationship as part of her acceptance speech" Callie added with a little laugh.

Arizona couldn't help but laugh too at that before locking her eyes on Callie's. "I really love you Calliope Torres. And I'm so sorry that I forced your coming out on you like this. I could have just refrained from mentioning your name. But I didn't. And I get why that would probably make you mad at me. But you are just so incredible and I know it hasn't been that long but I can't imagine my life without you as an essential part."

Callie smiled at her girlfriend's words. Then she leaned in and softly captured pink lips in a searing yet loving kiss. Arizona sighed in content and pleasure of finally having a moment completely alone with her brunette. The blonde let her tongue slide across Callie's lips tenderly and smiled a little as two plump lips were instantly parted to make room for Arizona's tongue to enter.

When they parted Callie rested her forehead against her girlfriend's. "We're going to talk about all of this again tomorrow. Tonight is not the time to do it Arizona. You won an Emmy. The first time you were even nominated. You are going to go back there and enjoy that with your brother and friends. And me. Your girlfriend. But I need to say that I will probably be mad at you once we start talking about it. But that doesn't mean I don't love you with all my heart or don't want to be with you anymore. I just think you somehow overstepped my boundaries with this and we need to talk about that."

The blonde nodded her head a little. "I know. And again I'm really sorry. And I get why we need to consider a little how the next few months are going to be like. Because we can't screw this up Callie. That would kill me."

"We're not going to screw anything up. I promise you. And for the record I can't wait to take you out on a date. A real date. Where I dress up and look all hot but I'll still be blown away and think I should have tried a little harder when I see you. And then I'm going to hold your hand as we enter a restaurant and maybe take a stroll down the beach after dinner" Callie tenderly stated.

"I would really like that" the blonde breathed out.

Callie smiled and pulled her forehead from her girlfriend's. "Come on. Let's go back there and celebrate your awesomeness some more before I take you home and have hot and sweatycongratulatory Emmy-sex with you."

"Fuck celebrating my awesomeness. Let's just go straight home and do that!" the blonde stated.

The brunette chuckled and pulled her girlfriend close before starting to lead them to the door. "There'll be plenty of time for that later hot stuff. But being here as an award winner should be enjoyed to the fullest. You never know when this will happen again."

"If" the blonde let out.

Callie looked at her confused. "What?"

Arizona smiled. "You said 'you never know when this will happen again'. But you meant 'you never know IF this will happen again' actually."

"Acutally I don't. I very much mean 'when'. Because you are talented and awesome and you WILL win another award someday" Callie said with certainty.

The blonde leaned in and pecked plump lips. "Thank you for believing in me. I love you."

"I love you too. And I can't wait for when we're old and retired and we're going to tell our grandkids about every single one of our many, MANY awards" Callie deadpanned.

Arizona laughed. "Well aren't you sure of our success Ms. Torres."

"Well I've got good reason to. I already got a Tony remmeber? And apparently that means I don't need an Emmy. So I guess you'll have to be the one to take home all of the Emmy's. I can take the Tony's and Oscar's then" Callie said with a big smile.

The blonde laughed. "I'm to fight you on the Oscar's!" Then Arizona took Callie's hand. "Come on. Let's go back out there."

 **So that's it for chapter 35. I really hope it was worth the long, LONG wait! :/**

 **Please leave me lots of reviews and let me know that you think of it! :)**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	36. Chapter 36

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **I am SO SORRY for the epically long wait! :( Two and a half months are really WAY TOO LONG! I feel really bad about it because you guys are so awesome and loyal readers – I hope I haven't made all of you give up on me!**

 **For those of you who are worried about me let me just say that you don't need to be…I'm doing really well and I'm very happy. I actually met someone and she is simply AMAZING and all kinds of great and good to me so all is really, really well here with me! :P But I'm really busy with life in general so that's why I'm so absent from here – again I'm really sorry about that :/ I haven't even had time to keep up with reading my favorite fics! :(  
**

 **But I hope you think HD &HD is worth the wait every time. And I'll try my hardest to not make so long pass again. Just let me assure you that no matter what I always have good intentions of updating more regularly than this! :P And I promise you again that I'm not going to give up or quit this story - I will finish it! :P I can't guarantee how long it will take though! ;)  
**

 **Thank you for all your reviews to chapter 35. I'm glad that most of you thought it was good! :)**

 **camilovesgreys: It was later rather than sooner :P**

 **elmarti: it was a very good ramble so no need to be sorry! :D**

 **mientosz: I know! And I felt really bad about leaving you hanging with that cliffhanger back then – but then again I'm just kind of happy it was not this time! :P**

 **srock: I can always count on you as my fangirl – thank you! :D**

 **AZsgirl: I hope you also think this chapter is worth the wait ;)**

 **shyalien: LOL :D I hope your colleagues don't find you to crazy! ;P**

 **Calzona1988: I think it's awesome that you're learning English because you have plans for your life! And it's not boring to hear about at all! :)**

 **greysfan1995: I love it when people somehow attach to fictional characters – and it must mean I'm doing a good job! ;) And I'm sorry it became a two-month long wait! :O**

 **incognitoben: I will definitely let you know if I ever visit Malaysia again! :D**

 **palmettocalzona: Thank you for your kinds words! I hope everything is really good with you! :D**

 **To all the reviewers that have left comments about missing me the last weeks: Thank you so much! I know I took forever to get this update done but it motivated me a little to find the time every time there was a new review.**

 **Anyway – on with the story! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER 36:

Callie woke up as she felt a smooth warm body lay down and connect with her backside. A kiss was placed on the side of her neck and the brunette let out a small sigh at the feeling of having her girlfriend that close. Another kiss was placed this time a more sensual one and Callie craned her neck a little as she felt the blonde suck gently on her skin.

"Are you waking me up to have your dirty way with me?" the brunette asked.

Arizona smiled into her girlfriend's neck and inhaled her scent. "I've been watching you sleep for an hour already and I couldn't help myself from touching you any longer. You're so beautiful Calliope."

"Thank you hot stuff. You're not so bad yourself" Callie said with a chuckle.

"You can go back to sleep if you want to. I just want to be close to you, so I want to lay here with you while you sleep then" the blonde tenderly said.

The brunette chuckled again. "I can't sleep. I can't even breathe properly."

Arizona bit slightly on a caramel neck eliciting a small cry of pain from the brunette. "Are you calling me fat?"

Callie shook her head softly. "Never. I'm just stating that you're a little on the heavy side when you lay on top of me like this and press me down into the mattress, thereby making my lungs collapse."

The blonde pinched the brunette's side making the other woman squirm and laugh. "That's the same thing."

"It's not" Callie argued "but you ARE squishing me a little honey."

"Hm" the blonde replied as she kissed a tanned neck again. "Then I guess you hate when I do this?" Arizona asked before pressing her pelvis down on Callie's ass and rocking it a little.

"I don't hate that" the brunette breathed out. "I don't hate that at all!"

"You're unbelievably hot Calliope. I love how your naked skin feels against mine" the blonde whispered into the brunette's ear.

The brunette felt a shiver run down her spine at the way her name left the blonde's mouth. Arizona's tone was sultry and sexy and Callie was very aware what that meant. "Didn't get enough of me last night did you?"

Arizona moaned a little and let one of her hands travel down the side of a tanned body until it rested on her girlfriend's hip. "You're amazing. And I'm so happy that you're mine Calliope."

Callie smiled. "I'm really happy that you're mine too."

Arizona shuffled a little to make room for her hand to caress two perfect caramel butt cheeks. "I'm not going to ever be anyone else's. You've ruined me for everyone else."

The brunette chuckled a little at that. "Oh yeah? And how did I do that?"

The blonde slowly let her hand travel over Callie's ass and towards her warm center. "By being hot and awesome."

Callie moaned a little and buried her head in the pillow for a second.

Arizona then slowly let a finger travel up the brunette's slit making a throaty whimper leave plump lips. "Shit, you're so wet" the blonde breathed out before moving her finger to a swollen clit.

Callie closed her eyes and swallowed at the touch. "Because you're fucking hot" the brunette croaked out.

The blonde moved so she now straddled one of her girlfriend's long caramel legs. "I love that I can turn you on like this." Arizona leaned down and kissed Callie's cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too" the brunette replied. Then an ivory finger found its way to her opening and circled it a few times before pushing inside. "Fuck Arizona" Callie moaned out.

The blonde started pumping her finger in and out of the brunette at a slow pace watching as a tanned face changed into different looks of pleasure. Arizona felt herself getting wet just from the sight.

Callie pushed her pelvis down against the mattress creating a little friction against her clit. The brunette moaned out a little and Arizona picked up her pace pumping in and out of girlfriend's center.

"Shit" Callie breathed out with a whimper "you turn me on like no one ever has before."

"I love that I can make you this wet" the blonde said as she slowed the pace a little again.

"Noooo" the brunette whined "keep going."

Arizona chuckled as she pulled out and moved away from her girlfriend. "Turn around my love."

Callie instantly did as she was told. When the blonde situated herself on her knees between caramel legs and looked down on her girlfriend, Callie locked her legs around the blonde's back making the other woman fall on top of her. "Finish what you started Arizona!" the brunette exclaimed.

The blonde chuckled again and let one of her fingers travel the outline of a caramel neck. Then she bent down and left a trail of wet kisses from the brunette's collarbone to her ear. "Oh don't worry, I very much plan to" Arizona whispered in her girlfriend's ear before sucking her earlobe in to her mouth.

Then the blonde again moved her mouth to her girlfriend's collarbone and softly bit into the flesh until a sound between pain and pleasure left plump lips. Then she moved her lips to a new spot next to the other one and did the same.

"Branding me, huh?" Callie let out with a moan and a small whimper of pain.

"Mmhmm" Arizona mumbled on to caramel skin. Then she pulled back and smirked at the brunette. "Because now I can. Now everyone knows that you're mine so I'm allowed to brand you in visible places."

"Actually" Callie said as she shook her head a little from side to side "you're not allowed. Because I still need to be at work tomorrow and make-up will kill you!"

"Pfff" the blonde let out while rolling her eyes "they love me in make-up! Of course they won't kill me."

The brunette laughed at her girlfriend's words. "Well if you're so sure about that then continue."

Arizona hesitated for a second before smiling smugly at her girlfriend. "Maybe I should just brand you on other places to be on the safe side."

The blonde then started kissing her way from her girlfriend's collarbone, down between her breasts until she reached her stomach. She put her mouth just above the brunette's navel and bit down hard. "Ouch, ARIZONA!" Callie let out and wiggled in her girlfriend's grip but Arizona just kept biting.

A few seconds later she removed her mouth from her girlfriend's stomach and smiled as a perfect set of teeth were imprinted on the other woman's skin. "There. Now I've branded you!"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "That really hurt! You're insane!" Callie said.

Arizona smiled at the other woman. "Want me to kiss it better?"

Callie pouted as she looked into blue eyes. "YES! That's only fair."

The blonde kissed the spot where she'd bit down and soothed it a little with her tongue. Then she kept kissing further down her girlfriend's body until she reached her abdomen. She paused for a second and let her finger slide up the brunette's slit. A deep moan left plump lips and Arizona felt herself getting insanely turned on by that sound yet again. "I love it when you make those sounds Calliope."

"I love when you make me do those sounds. Please" the brunette breathed out.

Arizona couldn't help but smile a little at the desperation in the other woman's voice. Then she let her finger circle a very swollen clit for a while before bending down and sucking it into her mouth. "Oh my God Arizona." Callie moaned.

The blonde moved one of her fingers to the brunette's opening and slowly let one finger inside. "Fuck you're still so wet" she moaned out against Callie's skin.

"Of course I am. You're here with me. Naked. That's more than enough" the brunette stated. "Please use a finger more."

The blonde did as she was told and slid another finger inside her girlfriend's center. She curled her fingers and let them slide down the inside of Callie's walls as she let her tongue flatten against her girlfriend's clit.

That made the brunette whimper out in pleasure. "Oooh Arizona. I love you."

"I love you too" the blonde replied before starting to flick her tongue rapidly over Callie's swollen clit while she let her curled fingers slide in and out of a very wet center.

"Fuck! Keep going. I'm coming" the brunette exclaimed.

Arizona picked up her pace and let her teeth graze the clit which sent Callie headfirst into her orgasm. The brunette arched her back as she moaned out the blonde's name. Arizona felt wetness drip from her own core at the sound and the feeling of her girlfriend pulsing around her fingers.

When Callie's high had ended Arizona removed her fingers from the other woman ever so softly and made her way up to the headboard of the bed. She rested her weight on her arms and looked down at her lover. Plump lips were slightly parted and the brunette was breathing heavily. Her eyes were closed and her eyelids flickered a little. "You're the most beautiful woman I have EVER seen Calliope."

The sentiment made the brunette open her eyes and deep brown orbs connected with dark blue ones. Arizona smiled down at her girlfriend and leaned in to kiss her passionately. Callie moaned a little when she tasted herself on her girlfriend's lips.

Before Arizona knew what happened Callie had flipped them over and the blonde was now pressed down against the mattress with the brunette hovering above her. "And you're the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen Arizona!"

Callie leaned down and captured pink lips with her own. She let her tongue slide across her girlfriend's lips that instantly parted to let the brunette in. Callie caressed her girlfriend's tongue with her own for a while before she sucked it into her own mouth.

Arizona moaned out from the pure lust rushing through her veins at that point. When she ran out of oxygen she pulled back and stared into brown eyes. "You are HOT" the blonde breathed out.

"I know" Callie replied as she winked at the blonde. Then she bent down and kissed the blonde's jawline. "And now I'm going to make you scream my name."

Arizona smiled and felt herself getting even wetter at those words. "Please do that. Because I'm longing to do that."

Callie chuckled a little. "You do know you did that not even 12 hours ago, right?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "So what? I want to do it again now. Because seeing you come made me all kinds of turned on!"

The brunette winked again and once more bent down to kiss an ivory jawline before moving her mouth directly to a pink nipple and sucking it into her mouth. Arizona arched her back in pleasure at the feeling. Callie released the nipple with a pop and moved to the other one also sucking on that a while before releasing it again.

Then the brunette crawled directly down the blonde's body to situate herself between ivory legs. She instantly pushed two fingers inside her girlfriend's center and was floored by the amount of wetness she found there. "Fuck babe, you are wetter than ever. It's pouring out of you. I need to change the sheets afterwards" Callie said with slight awe.

"Seeing you come like that does that to me!" Arizona said while moaning.

The brunette smiled and started sliding her fingers in and out of her girlfriend. As Callie watched the blonde's eyes roll back in her head from pleasure she moved her leg so that she could use her thigh to get more force behind.

"Shit" Arizona breathed out when she felt the added strength her girlfriend pumped in and out of her with.

"Good?" the brunette asked.

"Soooo good" the blonde replied as she reached out to pull her girlfriend closer to her.

Callie smiled and crawled up the other woman so that their faces were close to each other while she kept using her thigh as leverage. "I love sex with you. I can never ever get enough of you" the brunette stated.

Arizona simply replied with a whimper before lifting her head to kiss Callie shortly before pulling back and throwing her head back on the pillow. "Fuck you're going to make me come Calliope."

"Come for me babe" the brunette replied and let her thumb start caressing the blonde's clit.

"Shit" Arizona exclaimed once again and wrapped her legs around the brunette making the other woman go even deeper.

That made the blonde come instantly and Callie watched as expressions of pleasure rushed over Arizona's face as she screamed out. "FUCK CALLIOOOPE!"

The brunette slowed her pace and let her girlfriend ride out her high before she removed her fingers and lay down next to the blonde pulling her close.

Callie could feel Arizona breathing heavily into her skin and the feeling made her smile. Pink lips found caramel skin in a soft kiss. "I can never ever get enough of you either" the blonde breathed out.

The brunette hugged her girlfriend even closer and kissed the top of her head. "I'm cold" the blonde stated after a few minutes. Callie rolled her eyes and chuckled as she moved to her dresser to find a pair of sleeping shorts and a t-shirt for the blonde and herself.

She tossed the clothing to her girlfriend as she put on her own set. Then she crawled back in bed, sat up against the headboard and closed her eyes. Arizona snuggled closer and sighed softly at the feeling of just being close to her girlfriend.

Ten minutes later they were interrupted in their little bubble by the brunette's phone ringing.

"Hello" Callie said as she answered the phone while smiling at her girlfriend.

"Callie, it's Natalie" the voice on the other end said.

"Hey Nat, what's up?" the brunette asked.

"Turn on E!. You probably figured out already that you guys would be all over the news so just watch it a little and call me back if you want me to make a statement or set up an interview or something" the agent said. "I'm going to keep my phone close to me so you can call me whenever you want."

With that the agent hung up and Callie put her phone back on the nightstand. Then she turned to look at Arizona who had a puzzled look on her face.

"What's going on?" the blonde asked the brunette.

"Natalie just asked me to turn on E! and then call her afterwards when I decided if I wanted to do anything" Callie said and reached for the remote.

"Wait!" Arizona let out as she took the brunette's hand. "I just want to say that no matter what is said when we turn on that TV I want us to make it Callie. I know that we'll be able to make it. Because we love each other and because of that we can do this together."

Callie smiled a little at the blonde. "I want us to make it too. But we still need to talk about all of this. Because there are so many things to talk about, to consider and decide. But first we really need to see what E! is up to now."

With that the brunette pecked pink lips before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. Arizona snuggled up to Callie's side. The blonde felt a little nervous about what they were about to see.

As the TV lit up the top news was clearly the new hot same sex couple in Hollywood. And the way they came out.

"As Arizona Robbins was clearly over the moon about the relationship and bragging about it to the world, Callie Torres might not feel the same way. The actress was spotted leaving the room shortly after the announcement" the voice over said as pictures of Callie fleeing the room was shown "E! have not been able to find out how long the two 'Heart and Hospital' stars have been seeing each other but Arizona Robbins only entered the cast last season and from what E! has been told it doesn't seem as if the two actresses knew each other beforehand."

Callie sighed and turned off the TV again. Then she turned and looked at Arizona who had her blue eyes tuned in on her already.

"What are you thinking?" the blonde asked hesitantly.

"I'm thinking I definitely need to say something. And I think part of that needs to be that I'm very happy about this relationship, very much in love with you too and that we've sort of dated for six months. What are you thinking?" Callie softly said.

Arizona smiled back and snuggled a little closer as she closed her eyes. "I think you're the most amazing human being on this planet."

Callie couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. "I really doubt that. But now that it's out we might as well go all in and tell them everything."

The blonde opened her eyes, looked at her girlfriend and raised an eyebrow. "EVERYTHING?"

The brunette laughed and rolled over so Arizona was resting underneath her. "No, not EVERYTHING" Callie said in a mocking tone. She put her weight on her left arm and moved her right hand to stroke an ivory cheek. "Some things will always just be between you and me. But we need to give the reporters something that will satisfy them just a little. Because I bet there's a hoard of them waiting outside for the smallest sign of us."

"Can we stay here in hiding a little longer?" Arizona asked as she reached up and put her hand on top of Callie's that was resting on her cheek.

The brunette smiled down at her girlfriend. "Sure we can. We have nowhere to be today. I do need to call Natalie back though."

The blonde smiled back at Callie. "Of course. You should do that." Then she reached up and grabbed the brunette by her neck before pulling her closer and capturing plump lips in a searing kiss.

Callie moaned into the blonde's mouth and sighed when a soft tongue connected with her own. She let her own circle the blonde's for a couple of seconds before pulling back slightly. Browns orbs watched as blue ones became visible when Arizona opened her eyes as the kiss ended. "No one has ever kissed me like you do" the brunette breathed out.

The blonde delivered a dazzling smile in return. "No one has ever kissed me like you do either." Arizona then pulled Callie to her so their foreheads were resting against each other. The blonde closed her eyes and sighed as she enjoyed being close to her girlfriend. Then she opened her eyes and looked at her gorgeous girlfriend. "Calliope?" the blonde softly let out.

The brunette opened her eyes at the tone in her girlfriend's voice. "Yeah?"

"About yesterday. I'm really sorry. I just really needed everyone to know that you were a part of that for me" Arizona stated.

Callie pulled back a little. "And what about what I needed Arizona? Was that ever a concern to you? Because I can tell you for sure that what happened last night was not it!"

"I thought that this just for once could be about what I needed!" Arizona exclaimed.

The brunette moved to sit up. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Callie asked harshly as she moved herself away from the blonde and out of the bed.

But before she made it that far an ivory hand grabbed her wrist. "Wait!" Arizona pleaded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"Well that was how you said it" Callie deadpanned.

The blonde pulled on her girlfriend's wrist slightly to get her to come back to sit properly in the bed. "Please don't leave. Please stay and let me explain."

The brunette pulled her wrist from the blonde's grasp and sat in the bed with her back against the headboard. She gestured for Arizona to start talking.

The blonde sighed while straightening out the wrinkles in the duvets. Then she looked up at her clearly annoyed girlfriend. "I didn't mean it like that. And I'm sorry. I just meant that I don't think that you know what it felt like to stand up there and receive that award. The ONLY ONE I wanted to share it with was you Callie. It felt so wrong to stand up there and not even mention you. I needed to give you the credit you deserve."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "You could have mentioned me just fine without sharing our relationship with the whole world! We'd just talked about all of this two weeks ago Arizona! And I get that you were at your wits end but that does not make it okay to just decide for yourself when was the right time."

The blonde felt herself get a little angry. "I WANTED to share it with the whole world, okay? Because you're the most important person in my life and I wanted to share that with everyone that will listen. I love you Callie. And you wanted to wait so that no one could say that either of us only won because we were the new proud and popular gay couple or whatever. And we did that. We waited. And nobody will be able to say anything about my win."

"Still you could have told me and given me a heads up. I just sat there with everyone staring at me when you left the stage" Callie spit out.

"I didn't know I was going to do it okay! So I couldn't give you a heads up. Do you have any idea how it felt when I walked out towards my seat after declaring my love for you and you were nowhere to be seen? I felt like such a fool Callie" Arizona said defeated.

"But it's my life too Arizona!" Callie cut in. "I get a say too in when I come out to the entire world. You just decided that we were ready for that. You can't blame me for needing a second to process."

"And you can't blame me for loving you!" Arizona fired back.

Callie softened her features. "I'll never blame you for that. That's not what I'm saying Arizona! But it's a big thing."

The blonde sighed. "I know okay? But you have been so hot and cold with this subject and it's confused the hell out of me. First you wanted us to be a real couple and then I needed time and then when I finally feel ready for that you pull the breaks. I didn't know I was going to do it, okay? But you're my everything Calliope and I don't want to look back on receiving this award and feel like I didn't make you a part of it. Because you deserve to be."

Arizona looked down for a second before looking back at her girlfriend. "Just being with you have given me so much courage in life and I'm 100% sure that it has reflected directly in to my acting. I've developed so much as an actress during my first season on 'Heart and Hospital' and I know that it's also got something to do with Mark but it is mainly because of you Calliope. First through our friendship and then through our relationship. You are my safe place. When I for some reason doubt myself then there you are, guiding and helping me. Sometimes without even knowing it. This Emmy-award is my biggest achievement so far Callie and it will always be special to me. I want to look at that award and fill with joy. I don't want to look at it regretting that I didn't give you the credit you deserved" the blonde finished softly.

The brunette felt herself tear up a little at her girlfriends heartfelt words. "I get that Arizona. I really do. And I'm pretty sure I would have felt the same if the roles had been reversed. But it won't change the way I felt in that moment. And I'm not saying I'm not happy it's out, because I am. But I would have liked us to talk more about it and make some sort of plan. Because now it somehow comes across as if I'm not proud to be with you and we haven't even really decided what happens next."

The blonde slowly reached out to grab a caramel hand and she felt a little relieved when Callie turned her hand to make it possible for the blonde to intertwine their fingers. "I somehow feel like I tried to bring it up a lot of times, but you pushed me away. And I get that this was inconsiderate and not the way to go. And I'm sorry about that. But I also have to admit that I don't want to go back and change a thing. Because I'm happy it's out. It feels really good that I'll now be able to take you out on dates and just take a stroll hand in hand if we want to do that."

Arizona moved closer to Callie before continuing. "And I know that the press will haunt us down. But I don't care. I don't care if I have to see a picture of me sucking face with you on the front page of every tabloid in this country. I just want to be able to suck face with you every time I feel like it."

The brunette chuckled a little before looking down on their intertwined hands. She softly stroked an ivory hand with her thumb. "I'm scared" Callie whispered.

"Scared?" the blonde asked confused. "About what?"

The brunette looked up at her girlfriend and smiled a little. "About EVERYTHING Arizona. I'm scared the world will ruin us because there are people out there who are not ready for this. I'm scared that you're going to discover that I'm not worth this. I'm scared that you're so caught up in your love for me that you haven't realized what being out really means. I'm scared that this will have consequences for your career, that being with me will hold some people back from hiring you. But mostly I'm scared that you'll discover somewhere along the way that I'm not what you wanted after all and that seeing that plastered all over the tabloids will end me."

Arizona smiled and reached up with her free hand to run it through brown strands of hair. "Calliope" the blonde whispered "I'm not going to discover that you're not what I want. You are all my dreams coming true. And I know that it will be an upheaval for me and us. But I wouldn't have done what I did if I wasn't sure that we could make it. We are ready for this Calliope."

Callie smiled and leaned in to rest her head on Arizona's chest. "Thank you. I'm sorry I freaked out."

"And I'm sorry I outed you to the whole world without giving you a heads up" the blonde softly replied.

The brunette inhaled the scent of her girlfriend. "I love you" Callie stated "more than I have ever loved anyone else Arizona."

Arizona smiled and kissed the top of her girlfriend's head. "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else too."

Callie buried deeper into the blonde's chest and mumbled something that was really incoherent to Arizona. "I'm sorry honey, but I didn't quite catch that" the blonde chuckled.

The brunette smiled and pulled back. "I should really go call Natalie."

"Yes you should" Arizona replied.

Callie removed herself from the blonde and reached out for her phone. She smiled at Arizona as she put the phone to her ear. "Hi Nat" the brunette stated as her agent picked up.

"Hi Callie. So, you've got an idea what you want to do?" Natalie asked.

"Yes I do actually. I think I need to say something. I would really prefer it if I didn't have to attend any interviews today though, so I was thinking maybe just a tweet for now? And then book me on Ellen as soon as possible." Callie answered.

"I'm going to call them at Ellen right away. They already contacted me for the option of an interview so that won't be a problem. As for the tweet, do you want to do it yourself or should I do it for you?" the agent questioned.

"Would you mind doing it? Just something with me being madly in love with her and us being very happy together. You know just something that will satisfy them for now." The brunette said and shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay. Consider it done. Enjoy your day. Oh and congratulate Arizona from me, would you?" Natalie said.

Callie smiled in the direction of her girlfriend that had now tuned her attention to the TV she'd turned on and had on low volume. "I will. And thank you Nat."

"No problem. I'll text you in a bit when everything is done" the agent replied before ending the call.

The brunette put her phone back down and looked at Arizona who was watching a sitcom. The blonde was smiling really big and when she started laughing Callie couldn't help herself and pulled the blonde to her to plant a long kiss on pink lips.

"What was that for?" Arizona asked when she was released from the brunette's liplock.

"I didn't know I needed a reason to kiss my girlfriend" Callie deadpanned.

The blonde smiled smugly and leaned in towards the brunette again. "You don't! These lips are at your disposal any time you want it!"

Callie laughed and pecked pink lips. "I'm hungry. I'm going to get us some food from the kitchen."

Arizona pouted when her girlfriend moved away from her and out of the bed. "Don't make that face Arizona. I know you're hungry too" the brunette said with a chuckle.

"But I liked what we were doing. Food can wait" the blonde whined.

"We have all day to make out Arizona. But I know you and your stomach is going to start growling any moment now. It's almost noon and even though we had a snack when we came home last night food is necessary at some point anyway" Callie stated.

"Fine! Go get me some food" Arizona said while rolling her eyes dramatically.

As Callie was about to answer the doorbell sounded. "You go see who's there while I start breakfast. I'm going to sue the crap out of them if someone from the press have gotten the brilliant idea to trespass on my private property!" the brunette said with annoyance.

Arizona jumped out of bed and kissed her girlfriend's cheek. "Calm down. I'm sure it's not any of them. I'm sure they know better."

The duo made their way downstairs and Callie turned into the kitchen as Arizona made her way to the front door.

The brunette could hear mumbling and Arizona chuckling at something the person at the door said. After a couple of minutes the blonde came walking into the kitchen with a huge bouquet of flowers. It was a mix of all kinds of purple and pink flowers.

"Wow" the brunette exclaimed "they are really beautiful. Do you know who's sending me flowers?"

"Actually" the blonde said with a smile "they are not for you."

Callie furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean they are not for me? Who else would they be for?"

"Me!" Arizona said as she winked at her girlfriend.

The brunette walked away from the eggs she was whipping and made her way to the blonde and the flowers. "Who's sending you flowers at my place?"

Arizona shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know yet." The blonde then took the card out from the flowers and opened it. A big and dazzling smile spread over her face at the sight of the greeting. The she handed the card to Callie, kissed her on the cheek and went to the living room to get a vase.

The brunette was a little confused and looked at the card when the blonde was out of sight.

 _Dear Arizona.  
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR EMMY-WIN!  
We knew you could do it.  
We're happy you beat Callie's ass.  
It's obvious to anyone you were better than her during the past season.  
Besides she was getting way too smug about being nominated for all those awards :)  
We can't wait to hug you and congratulate you properly.  
Love from Rei, Jael & Aria_

Callie smiled and put the card down on the table as she went back to the eggs. A few seconds later Arizona came back into the kitchen with a vase in her hand. She came over to get water from the tap next to where Callie was standing. The brunette looked at her girlfriend and smiled. "So it's obvious that you were better than me the past season, huh?"

Arizona chuckled. "Oh no. I've got nothing to do with that. Those are your sisters' words." The blonde then moved to make her way back to the counter where the bouquet was laying. But then she turned and said to her girlfriend with a big smirk. "But I am the one who took home the award last night so I guess there's something to it."

Callie whipped her head around and looked at her girlfriend with mock disbelief. "Oh really? I say you got lucky honey!"

The blonde reached out and poked her girlfriend in the side making her squeal. "Hey that was NOT luck. I'm awesome and you know it!"

The brunette moved away and took out the pan from the cupboard. She put it on the stove and turned it on. Then she moved over to the blonde and grabbed her by the waist. "You really are. And I love you a lot."

Arizona smiled and put her hands around the brunette's neck. "I love you a lot too." She pecked plump lips and pulled her hands away again. "And now I need to go text your sisters."

The blonde then made her way out the kitchen and up the stairs to get her mobile phone. "Hey bring mine too would you?" Callie shouted after her.

A few minutes later the blonde came back and handed the brunette her phone. "Send me their numbers would you?" Arizona asked.

Callie smiled and did as she was told. Then she opened her own messages and sent a text to Jael and Rei that said thank you for the flowers they sent for the blonde. Then she opened a new message for Aria.

 _*Hi Aria. I know with certainty that the flowers were your doing. Thank you, that was very thoughtful of you. I'm so lucky to have a sister like you that is so considerate about the important people in my life. Let's have a Callie/Aria day as soon as possible. Love_

Callie then put her phone down, poured the eggs on the pan and went to stand behind her girlfriend. Arizona was in the process of arranging the flowers in the vase. The brunette kissed an ivory neck and put her chin to rest on the blonde's shoulder.

Arizona leaned back a little and reached behind her to grab two caramel arms and wrap them around her waist. Then she finished arranging the flowers before leaning back again. "You have awesome sisters."

Callie chuckled. "Yes they are really stepping up sometimes. But they also have to make up for years and years of terror when I was younger!"

The blonde laughed at that and turned in her girlfriend's embrace. "It was Aria wasn't it?"

The brunette smiled. "Yes it was."

Arizona put her hand on her girlfriend's cheek. "I really like her. She's very nice. I know that there were some troubles in the beginning but I really think she's great" the blonde softly stated.

"I think she's great too. And even though I'm still a little hurt about her reaction back then she's still my sister. And I love her a lot." Callie softly said.

"Of course you do. And she did organize this after all so I think it's safe to say that she's fine about me being in your life" Arizona said with a smile.

"I think so too. She really likes you. She's told me" the brunette said before leaning down and pecking pink lips. "Do you want to put the flowers in the living room? Then I'll bring breakfast and we can watch TV and relax for the rest of the day?"

"That's an awesome idea!" Arizona stated as she moved out of Callie's embrace to grab the flowers and make her way to the living room.

"Hey" Callie called after her "am I really smug about being nominated for all those awards?"

The blonde chuckled. "Again not my words. You have to talk to your sisters about that" Arizona replied before adding "but they were right about the rest of the stuff on that card…"

 **That's it for the long awaited chapter 36. I hope it lived up to expectations and that you all liked it.**

 **Let me know what you thought.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


	37. Chapter 37

**HOPEFUL DREAMS & HIDDEN DESIRES**

 **Hi guys :)**

 **Oh my God! I'm really, really sorry for the epically long wait this time! I understand why some of you might have given up on me! I really hope it's not the case for most of you guys though! And I hope that you think it's worth the wait even though this chapter is not really that long :)**

 **So many things have happened in my life!**

 **I** **lost my job since the last update, applied for a new one, went to different interviews and got a new job, I started a month ago. So that obviously took a lot of energy and time from me.**

 **Then as mentioned the last time I have a new girlfriend. An amazing and sweet and kind girlfriend. Only problem is she lives 750 kilometers away, so we're doing the whole long distance thing. That means that a lot of days and evenings where I don't have plans with friends or family are spent talking and Facetiming with her. But please don't blame it on her - I promise you that she's also anxiously awaiting this chapter and she's really annoyed with me because I won't let her have sneak peeks :D So here you go honey :***

 **Then my sister is getting married in the summer, so I have a lot of things going on regarding that. Like the bachelorette party and stuff – so I'm warning you right now: it might be a while until the next update!**

 **I know it seem like excuses, but sadly I just don't have enough hours in a day to have the time I want for all of it. So I need to prioritize.**

 **It does not mean I've given up on the story though! Not at all. I promised to finish it one way or another and I very much intend to keep that promise. So be patient with me! :) I feel really strongly about this story myself and I love when I have the time to work on it :D**

 **Thank you so much for your lovely and encouraging reviews of chapter 36 – I really appreciate it. Also thank you to all of you who took the time to write that you miss me! :) It means more than you know.**

 **Ace: LOL! I would love to see your happy dance – hope you do one this time around too :P**

 **Eva: Sorry I left you guys again :/ I hope you're still sticking to the story ;)**

 **Jolynn15: You're such a loyal reader. I love that. Thank you for sticking with me! :D**

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 **The guest that reread this story a bajilion times: Thank you! That made me so very happy! :D**

 **And24Trina: Thank you for your kind words. I hope you're going to like this chapter :)**

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 **EpicOrb: Well perfect timing then! I hope you haven't forgotten about my story and that it's still one of your favorite AUs ;)**

 **LauraLou87: Thank you so much! And here's another chapter for another happy dance ;)**

 **TheScholarGipsy: I love looooooong reviews! ;) And I'm sorry I kept you guys hanging…again…for even longer :P**

 **SamT: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm sorry you then needed to wait this long for an update! I hope you're still with me :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's or any of the characters - they all belong to the lovely Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I'm just toying with them for fun with no intentions of profiting.**

 **Also I know nothing about LA as I've never been there so please bear with me in this chapter if some of the things happening there is incorrect or impossible :D**

 **Enjoy it! :D**

CHAPTER 37:

Arizona was standing at the door watching as Callie put on her ankle boots. She smiled as she took in her girlfriend. It was Tuesday morning and after spending all of Monday together at Callie's place it was now time to go face the real world.

The brunette stood up and looked around the room. Arizona knew that this was just a quick check up to see if everything was in order before leaving. Callie did it every single time. Brown eyes found blue ones and the brunette smiled at her girlfriend.

"What are you looking at?" the brunette asked.

The blonde chuckled. "You obviously."

Callie rolled her eyes. "No shit Sherlock. Are you ready to go?"

Arizona nodded her head, but when the brunette moved to open the door Arizona got in front of her. "Wait" the blonde softly said.

The brunette gave her girlfriend a puzzled look. "Why? You're not ready anyway?"

Arizona shook her head before leaning in and very softly placing her lips over her girlfriend's. The blonde put her hand on the brunette's neck and pulled her closer. Callie parted her lips slightly and felt a soft tongue enter her mouth and collide with her own.

When they parted the blonde put her forehead against her smiling girlfriend's. "I love you. And I know that things are going to change when we walk out that door. But I want you to know that I also know that it won't be for the worse. This change will be for the better. Because it means I never need to hold back. I can hold your hand and keep you close when I want to. And I'm really looking forward to that. I know it'll be a transition and that it'll probably be weird and hard in the beginning. But I have you. And that is worth all the struggles and discomfort in the world."

Callie pulled back and looked at the blonde. It was obvious that Arizona was nervous about what was going to happen, but her words eased the brunette's mind. "We can do this. I know we can. But this is also the first time for you being in a relationship in the public eye. And then a homosexual one none the less. You are going to be furious sometimes and I guarantee you that at some point you will wish that you and I were just two normal people that weren't in the public eye. And at some point you're probably also going to want to not want to be with me because you'll feel like it's not worth it. But just promise me to talk to me then. Don't try to hide how you're feeling. Because I'll know something is wrong anyway.

Arizona pushed Callie away gently and reached down to take her hand. "I promise. Now let's go or we'll be late for work."

The blonde stepped aside for the brunette to open the door. Callie squeezed an ivory hand and blinked at Arizona before they made their way outside.

Arizona didn't know what she'd expected, but when she looked down at the street she had a feeling that every single paparazzi in the entire world had gathered in front of Callie's house.

"We're never going to get out of here" the blonde whispered.

Callie could feel Arizona starting to pull her hand back, so the brunette held it extra tight and turned the blonde so she was facing away from the street. "Don't worry I already took care of it. I called the security company just in case, so a security guy will be here in a minute to throw them all away. It's a private street and my neighbors do not want them here either, so they're going to have to leave."

Arizona exhaled. "Okay. Good thing you're so good at this. But why didn't we just wait in the house then?"

The brunette smiled and pulled Arizona to her for a small hug. "Because I'm hoping that a few pictures of us together, even though they won't seem that intimate and will probably come off as a little tense, will satisfy them for now."

The blonde smiled as they pulled back. "I hope it works."

Right then a car pulled up honking and two security guards came out and started ushering the paparazzi away.

"Looks like it's all clear in a minute. Get in the car hot stuff" the brunette said with a wink at her girlfriend.

Arizona smiled and walked around the car to get in on the passenger seat.

* * *

Arizona stood and watched Callie shoot a scene with Nathan. She turned her head as she felt a presence next to her. She smiled at her girlfriend's best friend as the red head approached.

"Hi" Addison said with a smile. "So, how bad was it this morning?"

The blonde sighed. "Security guards had to come and make the paparazzi leave so we could get here."

The red head cringed a little. "Urgh I'm sorry about that. It's just the news of it all. I'm sure it'll wear off."

"Yeah." Arizona smiled as she watched her girlfriend laugh really hard at something Nathan said between takes. "Hey Addison?"

The red head looked at the blonde "Yes?"

"If I were to take Callie out on a date, what would she then like to do?" Arizona asked.

Addison chuckled. "She's your girlfriend. You know what she likes Arizona."

The blonde shook her head. "I don't. Not on this subject. Because we haven't been able to go on dates, so we've never actually talked about it."

The red head chuckled a little again. "You don't need to talk about it to know what she likes" Addison said and watched as Arizona rolled her eyes "but I would say it depends on when the date takes place. Regardless she likes to do something where you guys can talk. If it's by day then maybe something like hiking would be a good idea because she loves to get out in the nature. And if it's a night thing then something were you guys can learn new things about each other would be highly appreciated by her. Something were you see each other in different situations than what you're used to."

Arizona smiled at her boss. "Thank you."

Addison smiled back. "You're welcome. So when is this date taking place?"

The blonde chuckled. "When I get myself together and ask her."

"That shouldn't be that hard" the red head added with a chuckle of her own.

Arizona sighed. "I know. I just somehow need this to be the best first date ever."

Addison smiled knowingly at Arizona. "She loves you. She wants to spend time with you. You can take her to do anything and she will consider it the best first date ever" the red head stated. Then she chuckled a little. "Just maybe avoid bungee jumping or something that involves too many snakes. She won't be a fan of either, trust me, I know."

The blonde laughed. "Noted."

Then the red head reached out and squeezed Arizona's shoulder. "Would you tell her that she's on Ellen the day after tomorrow? Nathalie just called me."

Arizona nodded "Of course."

"Great. Thank you" the red head finished before she turned around and left the set again.

* * *

Callie was sitting in her trailer eating lunch while she shuffled through news on her phone. Most gossip sites had already posted a picture of her and Arizona in the driveway of her house. The brunette looked up as there was a knock on her door. "Come in."

Callie couldn't help but break out into a smile when her girlfriend's face appeared in the doorway. "Hey! I thought you were shooting now?" the brunette asked confused.

Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "Something was wrong with the set, so we have a small break. I thought I would come see you. If you're not busy?"

The brunette shook her head. "Of course not. You can always come here. Why aren't you coming in though?"

The blonde smiled and stepped up and into the trailer. As she did a small bouquet of lilac flowers appeared along with her. Arizona saw Callie's eyes shift to the flowers and then back up to meet hers. Brown orbs were filled with questions.

"I actually came to ask you something" Arizona said as she moved further in the trailer and closer to her girlfriend.

Callie smiled at Arizona and raised an eyebrow. "Are you coming here to propose to me because I have to say that it's a total wrong setting. I'm not going to say yes if you propose to me at work, so be warned!"

The blonde rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Don't worry Ms. Torres, I'm not here to ask you to join me in marriage. I'm here to ask you out on a date tonight!"

The brunette's smile got even bigger before it turned into a pout. "But I wanted to be the one to ask you out on a first date" Callie whined.

Arizona chuckled and winked at her girlfriend. "Well then you should have moved faster."

Callie rolled her eyes as the smile appeared again. "Okay I'll go on a date with you. But you better wow me hot stuff!"

The blonde smiled back. "Oh I will don't worry. It's going to be the best first date ever."

The brunette reached out and grabbed Arizona by her waist to pull her close. "I don't doubt that. Are you going to give me those?" Callie asked as she nodded towards the flowers.

Arizona rolled her eyes and reached the flowers out for Callie to take. "Here you go. I have to go back though. But be ready at 6. You're done at 5 today, right?"

The brunette nodded. "Yeah. You'll pick me up here? What should I wear?"

"I'll pick you up here. And wear casual clothes. It's nothing fancy" the blonde stated.

Callie pulled back and faked shock. "You're not even taking me to a fancy restaurant for our first date? You need to WOO me Arizona!"

Arizona rolled her eyes again. "I promised you the best first date ever. And it doesn't need to be at a fancy restaurant for that to happen."

The brunette let go of her girlfriend's waist and put a hand up to caress an ivory cheek. "I know. Thank you, Arizona."

The blonde smiled and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again she leaned forward and placed a soft, chaste kiss on plump lips. "I love you. Be ready at 6!"

Callie smiled and let go of the blonde totally. "I will. I love you too."

Arizona winked again and turned around to leave the trailer. When she reached the door, she turned around again. "Oh and by the way Addison asked me to tell you that you're on Ellen the day after tomorrow. And be prepared to be wooed big time tonight beautiful." With that the blonde left the trailer.

* * *

Arizona was nervous. Really nervous. And late. She'd tanked her last scene of the day two times and now she was behind schedule. She heard her phone vibrate and groaned. "Patience Calliope Torres. Jesus!"

She smiled when she unlocked her phone though.

 _* Hey A. I'm sure you're nervous, and probably late, by now. But don't worry, everything will go by without a hitch and Addison and I are here keeping an eye on everything along with a very nice and very scary looking security guy. You're going to blow her mind. Love, T._

Arizona put her phone down and closed her eyes. She took in a couple of deep breaths and gave herself one last look in the mirror. She'd opted to go with bright blue jeans, a black top and her black leather jacket. Her hair was in loose waves.

She put on her sunglasses, left her trailer and walked to her girlfriend's. She took one last deep breath and knocked on the door. Two seconds later it was swung open. "You're late! That's no way to woo a lady on the first date" the brunette stated.

Arizona tried to get words to come out of her mouth but it proved very difficult. "Callie!" she got out at last.

The brunette laughed at the look on her girlfriend's face and twirled. "You like what you see?"

The blonde didn't say anything but pulled the other woman to her for a hard and passionate kiss. "You've never looked hotter" Arizona breathed out when they parted.

"I'm going on a first date. I need to look hot. This is the time to seal the deal" Callie answered and made her way out the trailer.

Arizona couldn't tear her eyes away from her girlfriend. Callie had on black leather looking pants that showed off the brunette's legs very well. Then she had a grey, flowing, kind of see through shirt on that gave away that she wore a black lacy bra. Then she had on her leather jacket. Her make-up was done in smokey brown and it made the brunette's eyes stand out in an amazing way that the blonde had never seen before. Her dark brown hair was put in three Dutch braids ending in a ponytail.

Callie looked back over her shoulder as she put on her own sunglasses. "Are you coming? I'm guessing that if you're late here then we're also late for wherever it is that we're going!"

The blonde shook her head and hurried to catch up with her girlfriend. She laced her fingers with her girlfriend's. "You look out of this world amazing. I can't believe that you're going on a first date with me."

Callie smiled at her girlfriend and looked at her over the top of her sunglasses. "You don't look too bad yourself. I love it when your hair is down."

Arizona squeezed the other woman's hand. "I know."

"So where are you taking me?" Callie asked.

The blonde shook her head. "No way. That's a secret a little longer."

They got to Arizona's car and the blonde opened the door on the passenger's seat for her girlfriend. Callie smiled and pecked pink lips before getting in.

The blonde went to her own side, got in and turned on the car. Then she turned on the music and started singing along as 'Girls just wanna have fun' came on.

Callie looked at the blonde in disbelief. "Wow you are REALLY bad at singing! I don't think I've ever met anyone else who's not hitting a single note."

The blonde turned and smiled really big at the brunette. "Well it's not always about being good at things Calliope. It's about the joy of doing it. You should never stop doing something you like just because you're maybe not a pro at it. And I like singing! It's fun!"

The brunette chuckled. "As much as I like that life philosophy, I still think we should try to teach you just a little bit."

Arizona smiled again and glanced at the brunette. "Will you promise to reward me VERY nicely if I make progress? Because I have to say that people have tried teaching me before with not much luck. I'm going to need huge amounts of motivation!"

"I'm sure we can figure something out" Callie said with a grin. Then the brunette turned the radio volume up a little more. "Until then we can maybe camouflage your voice just a bit."

That only made the blonde sing even louder and Callie couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Ten minutes later the blonde pulled up in front of a building. Callie facepalmed herself at the sight. "Of course! I should have known!"

Arizona chuckled. "What? It's going to be fun Calliope. And we have the whole place to ourselves."

The brunette sighed and rolled her eyes as she looked at the big sign saying 'Moonlight Rollerway' again. "I'm not exactly the rollerskating kind of girl Arizona."

The blonde turned the brunette's face towards her. "You will be. I have awesome skills and when you see them you will want to join me. I know." Then Arizona clapped her hands. "It's going to be so much fun. I'm really excited. I can't remember the last time I did this."

Callie couldn't help but smile at the excitement in the other woman's eyes. "But I don't want to" the brunette whined.

"Stop being such a spoil sport Callie" the blonde stated before opening her door and getting out. Then she walked to the brunette's side of the car, opened the door and held out her hand for her girlfriend to take. "Come out of the car Callie. This is my date. And you agreed to come. So you need to do what I planned."

The brunette reluctantly got out of the car. "I'm definitely going to be the one needing motivation for this" Callie said.

"Oh there will be plenty of motivation, because there will be plenty of opportunities to check out my ass while we're in there" Arizona said as she pointed towards the rollerskating facility.

As they entered the facility Callie suddenly realized that it wasn't at all like she thought. In the middle was the skating rink and it was bathed in purple and blue disco lights. A woman approached them from the side. "Arizona Robbins?"

The blonde smiled at the woman. "Yes. And this is Callie Torres. But I'm sure you already know that!"

The woman smiled at the brunette. "Of course. Welcome to the both of you. And let me start by pointing out that I secure you absolute discretion in this. Everything is set up. Your skates are at the benches over there" the woman said as she pointed to the side of the rink "and the jukebox is set up so you can pick any songs you like. I'm going to give you some privacy, but if you have any questions I'll be at the office right over there." The woman stated as she pointed towards a door at the back of the room. Then she smiled at the two women and left them alone at the entrance of the facility.

Arizona turned and smiled at her girlfriend as she reached for a tanned hand. "Come on. Let's do this."

Callie let herself be dragged to the benches next to the rink. As they got there two pair of rollerskates appeared. One black pair with silver sequins on the sides and a pink pair with glitter in all colors. "I'm guessing the pink pair is for you."

The blonde smiled. "Of course. I picked black for you. Because you are bad ass! And you should have bad ass skates."

The brunette raised her eyebrows as she looked at her girlfriend. Then she reached down and picked up a rollerskate. "THIS is not bad ass."

Arizona laughed at the look on her girlfriend's face. "Well it's the most bad ass they have at a disco skating place."

The blonde finished lacing her skates and got up. She smirked at her girlfriend before setting off onto the rink. She showed off a little with skating backwards and doing a few tricks as she skated to the other side towards the jukebox.

Callie looked at the other woman and smiled at the sight of her girlfriend being so at home on the skates. She put on her own and got out on the rink. She skated to the blonde and put her arms around her waist. "You've been holding out on me with your rollerskating abilities!"

Arizona smiled and leaned back into the other woman's embrace. "Well it's not exactly something you randomly mention. But I'll have you know I was the queen of the Little Creek rollerskating place. Everyone wanted to skate with me."

Callie squeezed her girlfriend a little tighter. "Oh really. Lots of pimpled young guys trying to pick you up, huh? Wanting to be seen with the queen of the rollerskating rink?"

The blonde turned around and hit the brunette playfully on the shoulder before skating away. "Don't mock me. You're lucky I'm available for you with all the offers I got back then!" Arizona twirled around a little on the skates.

The brunette smiled and skated towards her girlfriend that quickly skated away though. "Hey!" Callie exclaimed "We're on a first date. You should want to skate with me."

Arizona chuckled and did another twirl. "But then I can't wow you with my awesome skills and routines!"

"What routines?" Callie asked.

At that Arizona just skated past the brunette back to the jukebox. She shuffled a little before settling on something. Then she skated to the middle of the rink.

Callie looked on as the blonde stood in some weird position in the middle of it all. Then as the tunes of Shakira's hit 'whenever wherever' sounded out of the speakers, Arizona began a very weird routine on her rollerskates. As it progressed Callie's smile got bigger and bigger and at some point, she needed to press her lips really tight together as to not burst out laughing. Arizona ended the whole thing with a grand final twirl right in front of the brunette.

That did it for Callie and she started laughing really hard. Tears were running down her cheeks as she looked at her girlfriend that seemed very proud of herself and also a little confused.

"When did you last do that routine?" the brunette asked.

Arizona thought for a second. "Back in the early 2000's I think. But it doesn't change the fact that it is an AWESOME routine!"

Callie continued laughing. "You should have seen yourself. No pimpled teenageboys would make a move on you now that's for sure!"

The blonde pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're mean! I'm not showing you more routines that's for sure."

The brunette reached out and pulled Arizona to her in such a swift movement that the blonde almost lost her footing on the rollerskates. "You're adorable! I love you! Now show me how you do some of those things. You never know when I need to entertain someone with rollerskating moves."

Arizona smiled and looked up into brown eyes. "I really, really love you. I've never been as happy as I am now. With you."

"I've never been this happy either" Callie said before placing a kiss on pink lips. "And thank you for this. I would have never considered even for a second going a place like this on my own."

The blonde kissed her girlfriend and skated back to the jukebox. "It's your turn to pick a song."

The brunette skated over to Arizona and looked over her shoulder on the jukebox as the blonde shuffled through the songs. "Oh that one!" Callie suddenly exclaimed.

Arizona turned and looked at her girlfriend shocked. "SERIOUSLY?!"

"What?" Callie chuckled.

"SPICE GIRLS?" Arizona asked with wide eyes.

"You didn't think I listened to Spice Girls when I was younger? Why wouldn't I? Because they are too pop for my bad ass self?" the brunette asked mockingly.

The blonde chuckled and looked up and down her girlfriend. "No. Yes. Maybe. I mean look at you. You're all…dark and stuff."

"Dark and stuff?" Callie asked with a chuckle.

Arizona smiled. "You know what I mean! You don't seem like someone who would love mainstream pop."

The brunette smiled and leaned in to kiss an ivory cheek. "I'll let you in on a little secret: My room was filled with Britney Spears posters when I was younger. I barely listened to anything else. Except for Spice Girls of course because who didn't listen to Spice Girls?" the brunette asked rhetorically.

The blonde chuckled. "Well who would have known. There's a bright and shiny pop girl inside your bad ass exterior!"

Callie laughed. "Yeah. Don't tell anyone. It'll be our little secret!"

Arizona smiled. "I like that. That I know things about you that nobody can tell by looking at you. I like that you share stuff like that with me."

"I want to tell you anything you want to know. Like I want to know everything you want to tell me" the brunette softly stated. "Now come rollerskate-dance with me to 'Wannabe'"

* * *

"Where are we going now?" Callie asked as they approached Arizona's car again.

The blonde smiled. "You'll just have to see!"

The two of them had spent an hour rollerskating and talking about their teenage selves. It had been a lot of fun and Callie had enjoyed every second. Even though she had been sure that she would hate it when they pulled up at the rollerskating facility.

Arizona started the car and drove out of the parking lot. They talked and laughed as they drove until Callie suddenly exclaimed. "We're going to the beach? You know it's going to be filled with paparazzi? We're going to be facing constant photographing!"

The blonde reached over and put her hand on her girlfriend's knee. "Calm down and breath honey! I know that and I've got it covered. But yes we're going to the beach."

Callie took a deep breath. "Sorry!"

The blonde smiled and caressed the brunette's leg. "It's okay. It's good to know that I'm not the only one that can panic a little at this" Arizona said with a quick wink at the other woman.

They drove along the beach a little north until they reached a neighborhood of really big, and probably very expensive, houses. Callie was very surprised when they pulled up at one of the houses. "Arizona?" the brunette asked with uncertainty in her voice.

The blonde laughed. "Don't worry Calliope. We're not breaking an entry as the second part of our date. We're allowed to be here. We have a mutual friend who knows the owner."

They got out of the car and Callie followed Arizona around the house and towards the beach. The brunette spotted an area near the water at the private part of the beach that was shielded by white fabric. A scary looking guy was standing at the entrance.

"Oh great, you guys are here!" Callie jumped at the sudden voice.

"Jesus Christ Ads, you scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here?" the brunette asked.

The red head laughed. "Chill Callie. And I'm here because my lovely wife promised to make sure that everything goes according to the plan your girlfriend made!" Addison said with a small eyeroll.

The brunette chuckled. "The things you sacrifice for love, huh Ads?"

"Exactly. But now you're here, so Teddy and I can go home and spend the rest of the evening on the couch" the red head said with a smile.

"You can go in a minute" Arizona said as she put a hand on Callie's arm "I'm just going to go inside and check with Teddy that everything is okay and then we can eat, okay?"

The brunette nodded and leaned in to place a deep kiss on the blonde's lips. "Thank you."

"You're welcome" Arizona replied a little out of breath before walking up to the patio and in through the French doors.

Callie turned to her friend. "So...?"

"Forget it! I'm not telling you anything!" Addison replied instantly. "But let me tell you Callie; she went all out. I'm really happy for you that you have found someone like her. She's really good for you."

"Thank you. I assume you're the mutual friend who knows the owner of this place?" the brunette asked.

The red head smiled. "Yes. It's a sound mixer. He's, like you can see, very successful!"

Callie chuckled. "No kidding!"

"Let me just say real quick" Addison added with a smirk as she looked her friend up and down "that you look HOT tonight. Well done Callie, well done!"

The brunette chuckled. "Down boy! I have a girlfriend and you have a wife….who's coming out here now by the way" Callie added and nodded towards the French doors that Arizona and Teddy made their way through in that moment.

"Hi Callie" Teddy said as she walked up and put her hand on the small of Addison's back. "Are you ready to go?" the honey-blonde asked her wife.

"Like you wouldn't believe!" the red head answered "I'm done slaving so that others can have a perfect night."

Teddy rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, dramatic much sweetheart?" Then she smiled at Arizona and Callie. "Have a good night you guys."

"Bye" Addison said as she took Teddy's hand and started dragging her to the front of the house.

"Thank you!" Arizona shouted after the couple as they disappeared.

Callie turned her attention to the blonde who was one big smile. "Now what?"

Arizona took one the brunette's hand in her own. "Now we go down there" she said as she pointed to the area shielded by the white fabric.

The two women made their way towards the guy standing in front of the area. As they reached him he smiled really big at Arizona. Callie was surprised that someone looking that scary could then so suddenly look so gentle. "Hey Arizona."

"Hi Peter" the blonde said as she let go of Callie's hand and hugged the guy. Then she turned and smiled at the brunette. "Callie, this is Peter. Peter, this is Callie."

The brunette reached out and shook the man's hand. "Nice to meet you Peter."

"Likewise" the guy said softly.

"I met Peter at the gym a few days before I started working at 'Heart and Hospital'. Turns out he's a private security guide. So, he agreed on doing me a favor and make sure that we have our privacy tonight" Arizona explained.

"Exactly. So you guys should go and enjoy each other's company" Peter said as he pulled back some of the fabric.

As he did a very romantic setting was revealed to Callie. A small table and two chairs were situated overlooking the ocean. Candles in all sizes were scattered in the sand and cascading on the white fabric making the whole setting have a warm glow. The table had a bouquet of lilac flowers that matched the bouquet Arizona gave Callie earlier that day, when she invited her to the date.

"Arizona" Callie softly said before turning and looking at her girlfriend that looked a little shy.

"Do you like it?" the blonde asked nervously.

"Like it?" the brunette stated "I love it. It's beautiful."

"I know it's kind of inane and a standard date, but I just figured that when we live such a beautiful place then why not make good use of it!" Arizona let out.

Callie reached out and took an ivory hand again. "It's perfect Arizona. Really! Now feed me, because I'm very hungry."

The blonde laughed and walked through the opening. As they'd both entered, Peter let the fabric fall once again shielding the two women. Callie took it all in for a second and squeezed Arizona's hand. "Thank you. This is really beautiful. It most have taken a lot of effort and a lot of money for this to happen."

Arizona smiled. "You're welcome. And it wasn't even that bad actually. I'm just happy I get to spend some time with you outside in the open. Even though this is not exactly open" the blonde frowned as she talked.

The brunette smiled and leaned over to kiss an ivory cheek. "I know what you mean! And our first date shouldn't be for the whole world to see. We can do something really public later."

The blonde felt her nerves ease a little at Callie's words. "Yeah." Then she moved to pull out a chair for her girlfriend. "Come sit down."

Callie did as she was told and when Arizona sat down next to her, the brunette reached out with her one hand and put it on the other woman's thigh. "So what are we having?"

Arizona smiled "We're having oysters as a starter and then we're having seabass as a main course with sautéed vegetables and then icecream and cake for desert. A chef is preparing it in the house."

"That sounds perfect" the brunette said before leaning in for a kiss. She very softly placed her lips on Arizona's and slowly let her tongue across the other woman's lips. When Arizona parted her lips and their tongues met it somehow felt different than the other times.

A clearing of a throat made them part and Arizona looked back towards the entrance and smiled at Peter. "The chef is here with the starters."

"Perfect. We're more than ready for food" the blonde said with a wink at Callie.

Two seconds later a chef appeared with a bowl of oysters for each. "Here you go ladies" he said with a smile.

"Thank you" the two women answered in unison.

Arizona looked at the brunette who sat there looking at her food and then out to the ocean. "You're very, very beautiful Callie" the blonde breathed out.

Callie turned her head and looked at Arizona. "Thank you. You are too."

The blonde cleared her throat. "Bon appétit Calliope."

The brunette smiled and started eating her food. The two of them ate their starters in silence as they listened to the soft sounds of the small waves of the ocean.

When they finished, the chef came back and got their plates and let them know that the main course would be served fifteen minutes later.

Arizona looked at the woman sitting next to her. "You want to go down to the ocean for a bit?"

Callie smiled and got up from her chair. "Of course." As they approached the water Callie stopped, took of her shoes and put up her trousers a little. The blonde did the same and took the brunette's hand as she pulled her to the front of the water. They stood there with their toes in the water and looked out in the dark. Suddenly Arizona was pulled really hard by Callie which made her loose her footing. The brunette reacted fast though and caught the other woman just before she hit the water.

"Jesus, what the hell did you do that for?" the blonde asked.

Callie laughed and rose the two of them to stand up again. "I just wanted you close to me" she said as she squeezed the blonde close to her.

Arizona smiled. "Well good. Because I want to be close to you always."

The brunette reached up and put a lock of soft, blonde hair behind her girlfriend's ear. Then she leaned in and put her forehead against Arizona's. "This has been a really good date so far. The rollerskating wasn't what I would have picked, but it's taught me a lot about you and I really had fun. And this is just a perfect setting for a very good dinner."

The blonde smiled at those words. "I know you would have never picked that. But you and I are starting a new relationship. I don't want to take you to all those places you've been with Mark and do what you guys usually did. I want us to make new memories. So I'm warning you now; I'm going to make sure you try lots of new things."

Callie chuckled. "Well thank you for the warning!"

Arizona leaned up and gave Callie a long, playful kiss before pulling back. "Yeah you always need to stay on your toes to keep up with me. I hope you know that."

The brunette rose one of her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

"Yes really" the blonde chuckled. And then in one swift moment she bent down and sprayed a handful of water on her girlfriend.

"Arizona!" Callie exclaimed.

The blonde chuckled but only for a second before she saw the brunette move towards her. Arizona squealed and started running back up towards their dinner setting.

"Oh no. Come here!" the brunette shouted as she set after the blonde. Callie caught up with Arizona just before she reached the candle lit setting and tackled her onto the sand. She rolled the blonde on her back and held her arms with one hand as she started tickling her with the other.

"Calliope" Arizona said laughing as she tried to wrestle the strong brunette off her.

"Beg for mercy!" Callie said with a smirk.

"NEVER!" the blonde shouted and started laughing even harder when the brunette started tickling her even more.

"Beg for mercy" Callie whispered as she leaned down so her mouth was close to the blonde's. Tears were now streaming down ivory cheeks as Arizona continued laughing.

"Mercy" the blonde managed to get out in between her laughs.

Callie removed her grip on the blonde and placed her hands next to the other woman's face. Then she leaned down and pressed her lips to pink ones. A sigh left Arizona and Callie smiled at the sound. They lay there kissing for a while until Peter's voice interrupted them. "Main course is here."

Callie nuzzled her nose against Arizona's before getting off her and offering a hand to her girlfriend so she could get up.

"Yam, main course!" the blonde stated as they sat back down on their seats making her girlfriend laugh.

* * *

Arizona pulled up in front of Callie's house and turned off the engine. The two women got out of the car and the blonde followed the brunette to her door.

As Callie put the keys in the lock Arizona put her hands on the brunette's. Callie turned to Arizona with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm not going to come inside with you" the blonde softly said.

"What? Why not?" Callie asked.

Arizona smiled. "Because it's our first date. You deserve more than for me to sleep with you on our first date."

Brown orbs rolled in a tanned face. "We had sex this morning Arizona!"

The blonde chuckled. "I know. But that was before our first date!" Arizona pointed out. "So now you're going to go inside and process our date and the things you learned about me and we're going to text like maniacs for the rest of the night and then we're going to go to bed with a smile on our face because we have each other and this evening has been really good. And then we'll see each other at work tomorrow!"

Callie sighed. "Okay! But only because I don't feel I can change your mind."

Arizona smiled and leaned in to peck plump lips. "Goodnight my love" the blonde whispered.

"Goodnight hot stuff" the brunette replied. "Thank you for a perfect first date!"

"You're very welcome Calliope" the blonde replied. Then Arizona turned around to make her way to the car. But before she opened the door she looked up at the smiling brunette standing at the door.

Arizona ran back to her girlfriend and jumped at her with all her force. Callie was very surprised at the turn of events and managed to catch the blonde under her ass just before she fell to the ground. "Wow" the brunette said as the blonde clung to her in a hug. "What's going on?"

"I love you. And I'm so happy you're mine and that we went on a real date. I'm just so happy. Because of you!" Arizona murmured into a tanned neck.

Callie smiled. "I love you too. And I'm very happy too. Because of you."

The blonde let go of her girlfriend that slowly let her back down on her feet again. "Okay I'm going for real now! I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow" Callie said with a smile at her girlfriend that was already making her way down towards her car again.

 **That's it for chapter 37.**

 **I hope you all liked it and thought it was worth the wait. As always let me know what you thought.**

 **Lots of love /Julie**


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